Recipients of the inaugural Student E-Health Award, presented at the 2013 Canadian Nursing Student Association Conference in Halifax, Trent University Nursing students Scott Wight and Amanda Li have been recognized for developing a mobile website application that helps students deal with depression and other mental health disorders. The award, sponsored by Canada Health Infoway and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, recognizes undergraduate nursing students who demonstrate leadership in e-health through the practical use of information and communication technology.

Dubbed the Trent Mental Health Initiative, the tool was developed by Mr. Wight and Ms. Li while they worked on a community placement at Trent University during the fall 2012 term. “Amanda and I were asked if we could do something to address the mental health gap that exists amongst Trent students,” said Mr. Wight, who explained that it’s difficult for students to access timely counselling when they experience stress, or have anxiety dealing with issues such as being away from home for the first time. “Students don’t want to take the time to find information or who to talk to, so there was a gap that needed to be filled,” Mr. Wight said.

The Trent Mental Health Initiative is a mobile website that acts like an app, allowing students to use shortcuts on their mobile phone to access resources on the site. “We wanted a tool that was sustainable, practical, and easy to use” Mr. Wight said. “We decided that developing something which utilizes social media and which students could access on a smart phone would be ideal. It’s designed as a one-button lifeline for students, where they can find out more about mental health problems, or go directly to a phone line so they can speak to someone about their problems. There’s even an assessment tool where students can give themselves a mental health check-up.”

The pair has entered their initiative into Mental Health 2.0, a provincial competition sponsored by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) that challenges university students to show how they would use social media to promote positive changes in mental health at their university. “Ontario universities realize that there is gap in mental health amongst students and it’s really important to bridge that,” Mr. Wight said. “They also understand that social media has revolutionized the way that students access information.”

The Trent Mental Health Initiative is still in an early phase, and is being evaluated by Trent for its usefulness before it is widely promoted, but Mr. Wight is already aware of some Trent professors who have recommended the app to students dealing with problems like exam stress. The tool has also led to further research – other students are now doing surveys to see whether the app works for students and what can be done to improve it. While it is designed for Trent University students, with local resources, it could be tweaked for use at other universities and colleges.

Mr. Wight acknowledges that developing a technical tool is not something that one would normally expect a nursing student to be doing, but it speaks to the diversity and sophistication of the profession. “Before I came into Nursing, I had no idea of the varied roles that nurse play – nursing is much more than putting on a dressing. As nurses, we have to use all of the tools that are available to us, including new technology.”

The website application can be viewed at www.tmhi.info.

Posted on Monday, November 11, 2013.