Background

Entering tertiary education can present challenges for young people: they are in a new and unfamiliar setting which typically provides less structure than high school, and for many it is their first time living away from their parents. Unsurprisingly, these challenges may be associated with mental health issues. A review published in 2010 reported that up to nearly half of the students report some sort of mental health issue, and over three-quarters sometimes experience moderate distress.

Objectives

The presentation will provide an overview of a structured project to map and review the global evidence, and then use what is learned from this to design and implement a randomized controlled trial at Lanzhou University.

Methods

Phase One-Evidence and gap map and systematic reviews: We will conduct an evidence and gap map based on a comprehensive search covering prevalence and risk factors, interventions, and consequences; Phase Two-Formative research: It shall include a study of current provision, and, using a survey design informed by the measurement review, undertake a survey of Lanzhou University students; Phase Three-Formative evaluation: The evidence from the reviews, and the survey, will be used to discuss with key stakeholders such as the existing mental health services as to which interventions to adopt in Lanzhou. The feasibility and acceptability of these interventions will then be tested through formative evaluation; Phase Four-RCT: Phase four is the full-RCT, which is expected to be a multi-arm trial.

Project progress

We hope our work will attract whatever from African researchers who we can collaboration wish in future work.

Acknowledgements: The author(s) is solely responsible for the content of this article, including all errors or omissions; acknowledgements do not imply endorsement of the content. The author is grateful to Siziwe Ngcwabe, the content committee and the Africa Evidence Network team for their guidance in the preparation and finalisation of this article as well as their editorial support.

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