In Higher Education, 3 students per every 100,000 lose their life to suicide (ONS 2020 data). Male undergraduates in their first year present the biggest risk, with 7.8 deaths per 100,000 students.
Two out of three suicides happen without previous contact with mental health services which is particularly concerning as it suggests that those greatly in need of support are not accessing it. What’s more, the ONS reports that many of these individuals do not fall into recognised high risk groups, therefore there is more we need to do to identify these students, support them and ultimately prevent them from coming to harm.
The student services organisation, AMOSSHE, have recently shared some guidance to support higher education staff with reducing risk of student suicide and harm, taking a holistic viewpoint on the responsibilities and opportunities across many aspects of students services.
Their efforts in gathering expert perspectives and learnings across sectors has resulted in a document which offers clear guidance on how to design safe environments for students within which they can flourish.
The recommendations span beyond environmental suggestions, and At TalkCampus, as a provider and advocate of peer support, we are encouraged to see peer support acknowledged within the guidance.
We want to share our own perspective on the upstream role we think peer support can play not just in supporting students struggling with suicidal ideation, but also in identifying those at risk, supporting them to safety.
Reaching those who are hard to reach
TalkCampus peer support doesn’t replace traditional support, instead it wraps around existing mental health and wellbeing provision. It is the service between the services; accessible before a mental health issue is apparent, between therapy sessions, and to support keeping well and relapse prevention after any treatment. There are no barriers to entry, referral criteria or thresholds for eligibility, merely being a student (at a Partner University) makes one eligible to join the platform.
We believe this helps those who wouldn’t typically seek support, find a safe place to do so, and this is evidenced by data from our 2024 Impact survey, which found 82% of students in the peer community hadn’t told their University they were struggling.
Peer support as part of a system of support
Peer support shouldn’t just exist on its own however; it should integrate into the Universities existing Care model, and support students in accessing the local support that is available to them.
At TalkCampus, when we first Partner with a University, we work with them to personalise their students’ experience, specifically the Student Services Help page, where we can add the contact details of any local services which Students can access. This means that when students access the help page, either of their own volition or if one of our clinicians has signposted them there, they are able to see relevant information that loops them into the appropriate local system. This practice aligns with the guidance within AMOSSHEs report in the recognition it is a feature that can contribute to the effectiveness of managing suicide crises.
Peer support, connection and help seeking
To quote AMOSSHE, ‘Human intervention is the most important element in suicide prevention’, and this speaks to power of peer support and connection, and how through enabling students to connect with and support each other, we can work together to reduce the risk of students finding themselves in a place where suicide feels like their only option.
Online peer support provides a safe space where seeking support is modelled by others.
“When I joined the platform I had a really hard time opening up. I had never asked for help before or actually talked about my problems. Getting guidance from others really helped me learn how to open up and how to talk to others”. Anon User, 2024 Impact Report.
Learning these skills, we believe, will result in students seeking and getting support sooner, and thus contributing to a lower rate of suicide.
At TalkCampus we have a safety net in place should a student find themselves at crisis point, providing access to a clinician who can hand hold them in seeking the support they need to keep themselves safe. Where such support is provided, we provide a report to the University, enabling them to reach out to the student and conduct any further risk assessment or mobilisation of support as required. This triangulation of support is emphasised as key in identifying vulnerable students in AMOSSHE’s report, where they also reference the role of case management software to pull together key data on students, helping Universities to intervene at critical times.
Peer support as a way to spot trends in student mood
At TalkCampus, we want to support Universities in understanding their students, how they’re feeling and what they’re struggling with. Within our Peer platform, students are able to rate their mood day by day, and also assign ‘moods’ to their posts, which enables us to build an aggregated picture of the health of the student population.
We also share trends we notice in posts, for example, this past quarter, loneliness and the desire for connection have been major themes, with many students struggling with distance learning, cultural adaptation, and the challenge of integrating socially. Relationships, both romantic and with roommates, are another key focus, with peers supporting each other in setting healthy boundaries and navigating difficult conversations.
By giving Universities insights into how their students are feeling, they can craft initiatives and outreach to help their students which is tailored to their needs.
In Conclusion:
TalkCampus is committed to providing a supportive community that not only connects students but actively contributes to universities’ broader mental health frameworks. By integrating seamlessly with existing care models, peer support can help identify and assist at-risk students early, offering connection and human intervention in a way that feels accessible in moments of need.