C A M P U S U P D AT E S
TIME TO RECHARGE TOGETHER NUS steps up mental health care with Well-Being Day.
FOR STUDENTS, ADJUSTING TO CAMPUS LIFE IN A TOP UNIVERSITY AND NAVIGATING THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD CAN BE STRESSFUL. For staff, heavy workloads and tight teaching schedules can be hard to cope with. Add the COVID-19 pandemic into the mix and the pressure intensifies, as boundaries between professional and personal lives are blurred. With remote work or classes, and online collaborations proving difficult, a sense of isolation increases due to social gathering restrictions, and mounting fears of uncertainty. Recognising the growing stress levels, NUS has been stepping up its efforts to promote mental and emotional well-being in both its staff and students. The latest initiative: NUS Well-Being Day. On 5 November, NUS shut down to recharge as a community. Held a day after the Deepavali public holiday, it provided staff and students with a long weekend to reconnect with
family and enjoy time away from school and work. “Amid the challenges brought on not least by COVID-19, I am proud to see the NUS community come together to make the best of our circumstances with grit and courage. We have done very well in the way we adapted to significant changes in the way we live, study, work and play, and I truly appreciate how each of you have stepped up to the plate in order to keep our campus safe and healthy,” said NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye (Science ’85).
#WELLNUS:ENSURING NO ONE I S OVERLO OKED NUS Well-Being Day builds on the university’s slew of initiatives, including the Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Team that was set up last year. Helmed by Dr Andrew Epaphroditus Tay (Medicine ’07), the team designs programmes that enhance resilience. It also consolidates the
The Health and Wellbeing team led by Dr Andrew Epaphroditus Tay.
4 . THE ALUM NUS
strengths of other NUS units supporting mental health, including the University Health Centre, University Counselling Services, Office of Student Affairs, and Office of Human Resources. The goal, he shared, is to make a greater impact through collaboration while ensuring a coherent message. But tackling mental health issues is complex, as many are still afraid to seek help, and among those who do, there are a wide range of concerns that need to be addressed differently. “The perennial challenge is how can we proactively identify students and staff who are struggling and who have clammed up,” said Dr Tay. This is particularly difficult due to the large NUS community comprising over 50,000 staff and students. Hence, the team takes a structured approach, shared Ms Katherine Koh, Consultant (Organisational Psychologist) on the HWB team. The team developed an in-house #WellNUS framework that systematically identifies potential gaps in NUS’ well-being support services. The framework aims to support staff and students every step of the way, as there are different stages of a person’s well-being journey. Now, the team is in the midst of building and implementing a staff Peer Support System. “We hope to be better able to reach out to distressed individuals and reduce the barrier to help-seeking behaviours by creating a community of support,” said Ms Koh.
