Reading circles: Supporting students understanding of Lived Experience literature from mental health

Authors and presenters

• Ann Walker, Student Academic Success, Academic Division

• Wendy Dorrington, Library, Academic Division

• Denise McGarry, School of Nursing, CoHM

Abstract

Mental health nursing is a challenging area of study for undergraduate students, especially as many do not enrol in the Bachelor of Nursing expecting to be required to achieve beginning levels of capability in this area (Happell et al., 2013; Hunt et al., 2020).

An approach demonstrating reduction in stigma, fear and distancing of nursing students from those who experience mental health problems is to include teaching from those who have a Lived Experience of mental health problems (Morgan et al., 2021; Sreeram et al., 2022). At the University of Tasmania, a dispersed delivery model across four campuses and a pedagogy that is without centralised lectures, raises difficulties to deliver for all students.

The remedy was to examine accounts of the Lived Experience of mental ill-health (Farrell, 2020). In 2024, students were required to engage with literature that described Lived Experience of mental ill-health as part of an assessment.

This proved challenging, not only because of the jargon and colloquialisms used, but also the metaphorical references. As a proportion of the Sydney-based students do not have English as their first language, it was anticipated that this may create additional hurdles for this cohort.

A pilot project of Reading Circles (Hu, 2023) was offered as an additional support for success in this assessment. Voluntary sessions were run with the Unit Coordinator, Student Learning Adviser and Librarian. Students responded positively in the sessions and participated actively.

The project highlighted the broad range of cultural pre-existing beliefs about mental ill-health. These provided a lens affecting the understanding developed from the personal accounts of the Lived Experience of mental ill-health. Such observations raise considerations for all health disciplines when preparing students to succeed in their studies in mental health. Other disciplines such as education, where mental health challenges in school environments are also encountered, could also be affected by these factors that the Reading Circles addressed.

This presentation will highlight some of the factors identified in implementing this project to make a difference to student education.

References

Farrell, E. (2020). Researching lived experience in education: Misunderstood or missed opportunity? International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920942066  

Happell, B., Platania-Phung, C., Harris, S., & Bradshaw, J. (2013). It’s the anxiety: Facilitators and inhibitors to nursing students’ career interests in mental health nursing. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35(1), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2013.837123

Hu, Q. (2023). Learning Activities that Influence Deep Active Learning in Reading Circles Learning. [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (ICAIE) 2023. Kobe, Japan. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAIE56796.2023.00023

Hunt, G., Verstappen, A., Stewart, L., Kool, B., & Slark, J. (2020). Career interests of undergraduate nursing students: A ten-year longitudinal study. Nurse Education in Practice, 43(1), 102702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102702

Morgan, A. J., Wright, J., & Reavley, N. J. (2021). Review of Australian initiatives to reduce stigma towards people with complex mental illness: what exists and what works? International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 15(10), 1-51. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-020-00423-1

Sreeram, A., Cross, W. M., & Townsin, L. (2022). Anti-stigma initiatives for mental health professionals—A systematic literature review. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 29(4), 512-528. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12840