Educators’ roles and challenges in supporting tertiary education students’ mental health: a qualitative study in Malaysia
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice
ISSN: 1755-6228
Article publication date: 27 October 2023
Issue publication date: 10 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Educators play a vital role in supporting tertiary education students’ mental health, as they have frequent interactions with their students. However, information on the strategies and difficulties educators face in this area is scarce, particularly within the multi-ethnic Asian population. Therefore, this study aims to explore Malaysian educators’ roles and challenges in handling students with mental health issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 12 educators from tertiary education in Malaysia. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Four themes were emerged: perceived factors contributing to mental health issues among students, educators’ strategies in supporting students’ mental health, difficulties in supporting students’ mental health and training to support students’ mental health.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study exploring the roles and challenges educators face in supporting tertiary education students’ mental health in Malaysia.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all participants who volunteered for this study. Besides, they are deeply grateful to the administrators of Universiti Sains Malaysia for their invaluable guidance and support during the participant recruitment process. Lastly, the authors would like to acknowledge Universiti Sains Malaysia for their financial support through USM Short-Term Grant (304/PFARMASI/6315470).
Citation
Soo, Y.Y., Wong, Y.Y., Ong, S.C. and Ooi, G.S. (2023), "Educators’ roles and challenges in supporting tertiary education students’ mental health: a qualitative study in Malaysia", The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 397-409. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-02-2023-0013
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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