Cooperative Planning Process With the University Community to Sit Less, Move More and Improve Mental Health Though a Gendered Enviromental Approach: the Uni4Move Project
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 尚未招募
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 350
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Change from Baseline Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales - WEMWBS at 2 years
研究概览
简要总结
Mental health, understood as the individual or group well-being at an emotional, psychological, and/or social level, affects up to 35% of university students, of whom only 16.4% seek or receive help from healthcare professionals. Despite this prevalence and its impact on academic performance and the challenges faced by universities in terms of limited resources to address this situation, most research tends to focus on primary and/or secondary education stages. Consequently, there is limited research on the reasons why university students experience mental health problems and why they do not seek help.
Physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour could be protective factors for mental health in both children and adolescents. In this regard, according to data from the DESK-Uni at UVic-UCC, university students report engaging in low levels of physical activity, with female students reporting lower levels than male students. Additionally, adolescent girls report more mental health problems than boys. Therefore, there is a need for research and projects that consider the gender bias in health that exists in our society, including universities. This bias could explain why girls engage in less physical activity or claim to do so and why they experience more mental health problems. Thus, the purpose of the project is to improve or reduce gender inequalities within the university community and their impact on health behaviour (physical activity/sedentary behaviour) and mental health of both students and staff members.
Overall, the project aims to decrease the risks of experiencing mental health problems in the university environment by enhancing identification and promoting health-related behaviours that act as protective factors (e.g., physical activity). This will be done by considering the intersectionality of inequality axes present in our society and reproduced within the university setting. To do it, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG; 3-4-5) will be taken in consideration.
详细描述
The university environment is not separate from society, which has experienced an increase in the prevalence of mental health problems following the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the university environment is not immune to the gender biases of our society: in fact, the university itself could help perpetuate and reproduce these biases if not addressed. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate which social factors, such as gender construction, can influence aspects of health (mental health problems) and behaviour (engagement in physical activity or sedentary behaviour) within the university community.
Generally, the data provided by the university community are self-reported, often estimating levels of physical activity. Consequently, these low levels of physical activity may be even higher. Therefore, it is necessary to explore physical activity levels and sedentary behaviour using accelerometers and qualitatively examine, from a gender perspective, the reasons, barriers, and facilitators that influence engagement in physical activity and the improvement of sedentary behaviour among the university community.
On the other hand, while it is true that the UManresa university offers free psychological assistance to students (up to three visits per year), the understanding of mental health by the university community can affect the utilization of this service. For example, in a society that demands strength from "men," they may be more resistant to acknowledging their mental health problems, considering it a sign of weakness, and seeking help. Therefore, understanding how the university community perceives and interprets mental health is important: how it socially constructs the meaning of mental health problems and the role that gender plays in this construction.
In the face of this situation, the following questions arise: Is there a correlation between levels of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and the mental health status of the university community? What social and gender factors in the university environment can lead to lower levels of physical activity and more mental health problems? What actions can the university community take to improve the current situation regarding health behaviours and mental health of the university community? Additionally, considering that levels of physical activity are influenced by gender inequity and that mental health problems are partly influenced by physical activity and sedentary behaviour, it is necessary to study the relationship between mental health, health behaviours, and gender perspective.
In fact, the report "Gender perspective in research at the University" (2017), coordinated by Tània Verge Mestre (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Teresa Cabruja Ubach (Universitat de Girona), found that the effective incorporation of a gender perspective in university teaching remained a pending challenge, despite the existing European regulatory framework. Therefore, social inequalities may continue to persist and reproduce within the university setting. In this sense, this project aims to incorporate a gender perspective to improve the quality of teaching and the social relevance of knowledge, technologies, and innovations (re)produced. Firstly, this perspective aims to improve mental health through levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the university community, both of which are associated with gender biases. On the other hand, it aims to provide students with new tools to identify gender stereotypes, norms and roles to contribute to their critical thinking and acquire competencies that will enable them to avoid gender blindness in their future professional practice. Likewise, the gender perspective allows faculty and all university staff to pay attention to gender dynamics within the learning environment and take measures to ensure that the diversity of students is addressed, thereby impacting the mental health and potential health behaviours of the entire community.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Observational
- 观察模型
- Cohort
- 时间视角
- Prospective
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 65 Years（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Individuals involved in the university community, including students and staff members.
- •No contraindication for participating in physical activity.
排除标准
- •Lack of a B2 proficiency level in either Catalan or Spanish language (as determined by an official exam).
- •Failure to provide informed consent to participate in the study
结局指标
主要结局
Change from Baseline Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales - WEMWBS at 2 years
时间窗: Change from baseline at 2 years
The 14-item scale WEMWBS has 5 response categories, summed to provide a single score. The items are all worded positively and cover both feeling and functioning aspects of mental wellbeing, thereby making the concept more accessible. At individual level 'minimum detectable change' has been calculated using different recommended methods giving results of 3 and 8 points. A change of 3 points means that scores on three items have improved or worsened by 1 point, or scores on one item have improved or worsened by 3 points. This suggests that the lower threshold of 3 points can be taken to represent 'meaningful change' between measurement points in individuals.
次要结局
- Sedentary behavior time(Seven days a year during four years)
- Sedentary behavior breaks(Seven days a year during four years)
- Sedentary behavior bouts(Seven days a year during four years)
- Physical Activity Levels(Seven days a year during four years)