New online course can help you learn more about mental well-being
What do communities mean for your mental well-being? What does social media do to your sleep? And why do we need breaks to stay mentally healthy? These are some of the many questions you can find answers to by following a new online course.
The researchers behind the well-being initiative ‘Together at SAMF - ABC for mental health at the university' are now launching an online course on mental health promotion for university students.
The course touches upon sociological, biological, cultural, humanistic, psychological and public health perspectives on mental health. It is organised as a podcast series of 11 episodes.
"In each episode, students share their thoughts and views on the different themes, and there are interviews with researchers and practitioners in the field,” says Line Nielsen, who leads the project 'Together at SAMF - ABC for mental health at the university' and is a postdoc at the Department of Psychology, UCPH.
Knowledge straight into your ears
The podcast format suits students perfectly.
“It allows you to take the course while you go for a walk or wash the dishes," says Line Nielsen.
Each podcast episode focuses on a topic related to mental health promotion. The topics are presented by different experts and the two hosts, Malene Kubstrup Nelausen, research assistant at the Department of Psychology, and Oliver Tonning, psychology student at UCPH.
The basis for the course is the ABCs of Mental Health, which is a research-based framework for mental health promotion. The ABCs of Mental Health communicates three simple messages that are important for promoting mental health: do something active (A), do something together (B) and do something meaningful (C).
Further, the online module ‘Understanding well-being’ developed and offered by University of Warwick in England inspires this course. The research group behind Together at SAMF is collaborating with Dr. Elena Riva from University of Warwick to conduct research on the acceptability and impact of these interdisciplinary modules on well-being.
Activities and course certificate
Each of the 11 themes of the course has a theme page, which, in addition to the podcast episode, contains various learning activities. These include quizzes, reflection tasks and mini-experiments.
"A key element of the course is that students are inspired and encouraged to take initiatives and try out exercises that can have an impact on their own and others' mental well-being. In this way, there is an interaction between theory and practice throughout the course," explains Line Nielsen.
The course does not give ECTS credits, but it is possible to obtain a course certificate by completing all 11 themes.
You have completed a theme when you have listened to the podcast episode, worked with the associated learning activity and answered a survey before and after the course.
Register here (only for UCPH students).
