Armanto R1, McKay S1,2, Chinnery G1
1Orygen, Melbourne, Australia, 2The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Background:
International students experience high rates of mental health issues. Despite facing a variety of additional stressors associated with studying and living in another country, international students also have lower help-seeking intentions for mental health. A potentially effective solution to address these issues is the implementation of peer support programs. However, the evaluation of such programs specifically for international students remains limited.
The aim of this study is to evaluate an existing international student peer work program from the perspective of international students, peer workers, and educational institutions.
Methods:
A mixed methods framework has been adopted for this study. One hundred international students accessing the peer worker services will complete a brief survey on the acceptability of the program, along with the impact on their mental health, wellbeing, willingness to seek help, and willingness to discuss mental health with their peers. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with international students (n =10) and peer workers (n = 3) along with focus groups with education staff involved in the program (n = 10) to capture their perspectives on the impact and long-term feasibility of the program.
Results:
Descriptive statistics will be used for quantitative data and qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis. Joint display tables will show overlap in datatypes and stakeholder perspectives to identify alignment and differences across findings.
Conclusion:
This research will provide a significant contribution to our understanding of the potential for international student peer work programs to improve mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population.
Biography:
Rafi Armanto is a peer work project officer and workforce trainer who coordinates mental health peer work projects at Orygen. Rafi’s recent work has focussed on mental health peer work for international students in education settings as well as supporting the development of peer work training programs.