Curricular Approaches to Wellbeing in Higher Education

Description

This seminar presented an overview of current policy, research and practice relating to student wellbeing in higher education and how the curriculum can be leveraged to enhance wellbeing. It showcased a range of innovative curricular wellbeing initiatives in UCC and MTU.

Benefit of this resource and how to make the best use of it

Concern for the increased levels of student mental ill health, mental distress and low wellbeing has been recognised nationally and internationally (Higher Education Authority, 2020; Worsley, Pennington & Corcoran, 2020; Thorley, 2017; USI, 2019), not least because it is known that three-quarters of all mental illnesses begin by the mid-20s (Kessler et al., 2005 as cited in Higher Education Authority, 2020). Poor mental health and wellbeing can affect students’ academic performance and desire to remain in higher education (Duffy et al., 2019). Against this backdrop, primary prevention and promotion of positive mental health is now widely accepted (Work Research Centre/LSE, 2017).
Hughes (2019) makes the case that the curriculum is the only guaranteed point of contact between a university and its students. As such, curricular approaches to wellbeing should be considered (Houghton & Anderson, 2017; Hill, Farrelly, Clarke & Cannon, 2020), while acknowledging that this is complex (Ecclestone, 2019). Staff (Hughes, Panjwani, Tulcida & Byrom, 2018) and students’ perspectives (Baik, Larcombe & Brooker, 2019) should inform such developments.

It is intended that the sharing of resources and information between HEIs, arising from this seminar, will lead to increased knowledge of curricular approaches to student wellbeing and in turn lead to improved mental health promotion and prevention across higher education.

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This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND license, permitting redistribution for non-commercial use with proper attribution but prohibiting modifications.

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Hunt, E., & O'Mahony, J. (2022). Curricular approaches to wellbeing in higher education. National Resource Hub (Ireland). Retrieved from: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/curricular-approaches-to-wellbeing-in-higher-education/ License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND).

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Related OER

This resource captures key insights from a full-day workshop held on 8 May 2025, hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and led by internationally recognised expert Dr Alison Cook-Sather. The event focused on the transformative potential of authentic student-staff partnerships as a strategic approach to advancing student engagement, success, and institutional effectiveness.

Attended by academic staff, institutional leaders, student success professionals, and sector partners from across Ireland, the workshop featured a combination of keynote presentations, lightning talks, and interactive sessions. Through real-world examples and hands-on activities, participants explored how to build meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable collaboration between students and staff.

For the full event schedule and a complete list of lightning talk contributors to this slide deck, visit the workshop schedule.

This survey was adapted from a North American Faculty OER Survey Toolkit for use in the Irish Higher Education context. It was used across the DOERs project partner sites to audit staff Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices awareness and practices. We encourage other institutions to adapt this tool to meet their needs.

Two modules are available on this page one for educators and one for mentors to learn how to engage in mentoring sessions with students. The page also has access to the Community Mentoring Handbook (for mentors), Mentee Toolkit (for second-level students taking part in sessions) and the Adult Ed Handbook(for adult learners taking part in sessions).

Community Mentoring Resources

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URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Z8L1wydd4