Mental health problems in people have existed since the beginning of time, although it is now that they are talked about the most, at all levels; of its origin, its treatment and, of course, its possible solution. Psychological disorders also affect university students, and more so every day. A recent report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that approximately 20% of young people between 18 and 24 years old experience some mental health disorder, with depression and anxiety being the most common illnesses.
At the national level, the report Mental health in the students of Spanish universities, published in 2023 by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, concludes that, during a quarter of the 2022-23 academic year, more than half of the university students perceived the need to request psychological support for mental health problems and that the number of students who have ever consulted a health professional for a mental health problem Mental health also exceeds 50%.
In this context, Santander Bank has been supporting this group for years through Universia Foundation, which focuses its activity on improving employability, from a perspective of diversity and equity, committed to the progress of young people and other groups, on the path towards their educational development and high employability.
The Foundation, which has the support of Banco Santander and Health and Wellness Campus -he spinoff of the inRecovery association—have launched the project Campus, which was born to promote mental health initiatives for the care of university students in the field of new Organic Law of the University System (LOSU), approved in 2023, which introduces a renewed focus on well-being and mental health in the university setting.
This is a pioneering initiative in offering a comprehensive approach to the treatment of addictive behaviors in university students, working not only on prevention, but also recovery.
Beatriz Arribas, director of the Universia Foundation, has pointed out that “This agreement between Campus and Fundación Universia includes a series of key initiatives that aim to provide universities with tools and knowledge to face these challenges and is of great relevance for the future of student mental health in universities.”
The Campus project has already had its first pilot experience during the last university year with the monitoring of 16,000 students belonging to the Camilo José Cela University, the Complutense University of Madrid and the Miguel Hernández University of Elche. This first field work has allowed an accurate analysis of the reality in each of these educational centers and has served for each of them to implement the most appropriate plans to take care of their community.
The launch of this initiative has also functioned as a starting point to begin to demonstrate that, With the right support, students can overcome their addiction and mental health issues and, in this way, successfully continue their academic training.
After this first satisfactory experience, the Campus project will not stop. On the contrary, since, through this signed agreementFundación Universia will promote the dissemination of the Campus project in the more than 1,000 institutions of higher education that are part of MetaRed ESG in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. MetaRed ESG is a collaborative project of Universia that forms a network of networks of universities and higher education institutions, both public and private, that seek to implement ESG criteria —Environmental, Social, Governance— in the Ibero-American sphere.
This expansion will allow more universities to adopt the prevention, training and recovery initiatives that have been shown to be effective in institutions where it has already been implemented. Gabriel Rubio, professor of Psychiatry and co-founder of Campushas indicated that “knowing the data on the state of mental health and habits of university students, understanding and putting this data in context is essential to implement tailored plans that take care of the university student and improve their well-being.”
“The collaboration between Campus and Fundación Universia responds to this growing concern and aims not only to increase awareness of these problems, but also to provide practical tools to confront them,” assures Manuel León, director of Campus Health and Wellbeing, who adds: “By using large-scale data, it is possible to create predictive models and understand the profile of the university student in depth, very useful information so that the institution can implement its own plans and act with greater knowledge to guarantee a better environment.”
Banco Santander, with the mental health of university students
Banco Santander has maintained a firm commitment for more than 27 years to education, employability and entrepreneurship with an investment of more than 2.3 billion eurossupport to more than 1.5 million people and companiesand collaboration agreements with more than 1,200 universities and academic institutions in 26 countries.
And it does so through platforms such as Universia Foundationwhich continues to advance in the creation of collaborative university ecosystems and which, since its creation, has invested 20 million euros to promote the employability and progress of students with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
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