This blog is brought to you from Dr Natalie Mack, an academic in Biotechnology, based in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is writing on the topic of student mental health, drawing upon her own experience of navigating mental health challenges, to develop a self-reflection exercise that helps students bring balance to their lives and boost resilience and general wellbeing.
The Problem
Over recent years, the number of students in higher education experiencing mental health challenges appears to be increasing, as academics report observing increased mental health challenges among their students [1]. Between 2017 and 2020, the percentage of young people in England with a probable mental health disorder (aged 17-19) increased from 10 to 18% [2]. Furthermore, graduate students report more anxiety or depression compared to the general population [3]. Poor mental health is one of the most common reasons for students seeking additional support via formal support plans or extenuating circumstances claims. Therefore, we need effective tools to boost students’ mental health, general wellbeing, and resilience. In addition to professional support, learning developers can enhance support by creating opportunities for the sharing of coping strategies and provision of relevant role models. The Grid of Life tool described here is one possible intervention that could be used – a strategy applicable to all higher education students.
Grid of Life Tool
The Grid of Life concept comes from a fabulous book by Susan Jeffers “Feel the fear and do it anyway” (Figure 1). In chapter 8, named “How whole is your “whole life”?”, the Grid of Life exercise is introduced to help individuals reflect on how balanced their whole life is. It involves visualising life within a 9-box grid, with each box representing a key life area important to the individual.
In my own adaptation, the first stage of the exercise involves estimating a percentage level of effort, and separately a percentage level of satisfaction, for each life area/box (Figure 2). This enables self-reflection about which life areas may be receiving more effort than others, to evaluate how that feels and its impact. The main learning objective is that a full and well-balanced life increases wellbeing which in turn boosts resilience, as it reduces vulnerability to setbacks in any life area.
The student brings their whole selves in
It is therefore important to evaluate our whole lives and take achievable action to address weaker areas. This is the aim of the second stage of the exercise, which involves completing an action plan grid, with one box per life area. A few realistic actions can be assigned to each box (or just the boxes that require work) to help achieve more balance and broader satisfaction across multiple life areas (Figure 3).
I have developed a resource (PowerPoint slides and printable grids (available via LearnHigher) that can be used with students in either live sessions or asynchronously, to take them through this reflective exercise.
Positive Impact of the Tool
At the University of Nottingham, we have used this resource with postgraduate research students and staff. I have personally delivered this session to several groups of students, sharing my personal experience of using the tool to build wellbeing and resilience, thereby acting as a visible role model for proactive management of mental health challenges at the same time.
Feedback received from a small group of students was very positive, with 100% reporting it was both an enjoyable and useful exercise. However, responses about whether they would be likely to complete it again were mixed, with 50% saying that would be likely and 50% unlikely. 75% said they would likely recommend the exercise to others.
One student would have liked to see a faith category on the printed grid provided to them. While students were told they could change the box titles to suit them, or add additional boxes such as a faith category, this may need to be more explicit to feel fully inclusive to students this is important to.
“I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise. It made me think about the consequences of my efforts, and that usually higher efforts are rewarded. It also categorised aspects of life, where before I felt a little overwhelmed. So it is great to see it written down on paper and spotting areas that need work and development. As circumstances change, I would want to repeat this exercise maybe monthly.”
“I really enjoyed the session, and how it made me think about work/life balance in small, doable doses. I appreciated how honest and open the speaker was.”
“I was initially sceptical about the exercise, but it was insightful to see that my successes align with where I’ve invested the most effort.”
“It was an interesting and thought-provoking exercise.”
“It was fun to reflect on my work life balance.”
Concluding thoughts
My experience of using this exercise within live sessions with students (in person) highlighted this as a useful tool for kickstarting self-reflection and conversations about work-life balance. I witnessed many fruitful discussions taking place between students and having a dedicated session for this task created space for students to think about their own wellbeing and life priorities that they may not have done otherwise.
Completing the task in the presence of others also enabled common issues and ideas for action to be identified and shared, helping students realise they are not alone with their experiences. Having personally used this tool repeatedly for several years, I have experienced firsthand its benefits and believe it is a useful (yet simple and easy to remember) exercise well worth introducing students to.
Looking ahead, we will continue to use this tool at The University of Nottingham with further cohorts of students, including undergraduates. It will be especially relevant for wobble week or other mental health awareness events. By sharing the resource and my experience of using it, I hope this inspires learning developers elsewhere to try this approach within their own setting.
I therefore conclude with a call for you to take action
Get involved – use the Grid of Life!
To get started, please take the following steps:
- Identify a cohort of students and session timeslot where you could use this exercise, and
- Complete the exercise yourself, so that when you deliver it to students you can show your own grids and act as an effective role model.
References
- Gareth Hughes, M.P., Priya Tulcidas and Dr Nicola Byrom, Student mental health: the role and experiences of academics. 2018, Student Minds.
- Digital, N. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2022 – wave 3 follow up to the 2017 survey. 2022; Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2022-follow-up-to-the-2017-survey#.
- Evans, T.M., et al., Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education. Nat Biotechnol, 2018. 36(3): p. 282-284.
Bio:
Dr Natalie Mack is a teaching-focused academic in Biotechnology, in the School of Biosciences, at the University of Nottingham, UK. She has over six years experience as an academic misconduct officer, dealing with undergraduate cases for her school. In addition, she is an admissions tutor, Athena Swan lead, neurodiversity champion, research ethics reviewer, convenor and contributor to multiple undergraduate and postgraduate modules, and a student project supervisor in cancer research.
This is really interesting; thanks for sharing.
What I love about this, is that it says to students, ‘we see you’, ‘we know you have a full and hectic life’, ‘we understand’, ‘here is something that might help’.
Helping students understand that they are not alone and that any overwhelm they are experiencing is completely normal at times, through university and through life, is a powerful way of supporting them – great stuff.
I will definitely be completing the exercise myself!