The transitions linked to the higher education experience – moving from secondary to higher education, transitioning between study cycles, and entering the labour market – are critical development moments for students.
Aware of these challenges, Universidade Portucalense has developed a programme to promote mental health, designed by a multidisciplinary team made up of psychologists, professors, and other health professionals, inspired by the “stepped care” response model, with strategies for promoting, preventing, and intervening in students’ mental health and well-being.
The main goal is to offer timely and specialised guidance and support, to promote development and adaptation, and to anticipate the strengthening of skills and response strategies appropriate to current and future challenges for groups of students at risk.
The aim is to proactively foster mental health and well-being by providing preventative interventions tailored to the specific needs of university students, and to offer remedial support for more serious mental health problems.
This initiative is the result of a successful application to the “Programa para a Promoção da Saúde Mental no Ensino Superior” (“Programme for the Promotion of Mental Health in Higher Education”), promoted by the Directorate General for Higher Education, aimed at developing and consolidating the services offered by the Student Support Office, in collaboration with the Pedagogical Innovation Office and the Portucalense Clinical Centre for Psychology, with the support of specialist lecturers from the Department of Psychology and Education.
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