UCAS Reports Massive Surge In Nursing Students

A record number of students have been accepted on nursing and midwifery courses this year according to the latest statistics released by UCAS.

It is believed that increased emphasis on the health and social sector over the last 9 months, due to Covid-19, has led to a much greater number of students looking for a career in healthcare.

The statistics from UCAS show that there were 6,110 (or 26%) more accepted applications for students studying on nursing and midwifery courses than last year. A grand total of 29,740 students will be studying nursing and midwifery in 2021.

The data also shows a 43% increase in mature students, aged 35 and over who have been accepted on nursing and midwifery courses.

Minister for Care Helen Whately said:

It’s fantastic to see so many people choosing to pursue a career in nursing and midwifery, with over a quarter more students starting on courses. This year has shown just how much we depend on nurses. I have no doubt that their incredible work has inspired the next generation to pursue careers in the NHS and social care.

This year we’ve also introduced a new training grant for nursing students of at least £5,000 a year, helping to remove the barriers for anyone considering this brilliant career.

With over 14,800 more nurses working in our NHS compared to last year, we are on our way to delivering 50,000 more by the end of this Parliament to help us build back better.

If you are interested in a career in health care wrote an article covering the above mentioned nursing grant back in January.

Thanks for reading,

A2B Assessments

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Mental Health Disorders In Higher Education

Moving away from living at home and being independent of your parents for the first time can be challenging. The age span of 16-24 years old is essentially the transition from adolescence to adulthood and this is a high risk period for mental health disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

64% of the University student population is between 16 and 24 years old, and this increases to 83% if you count undergraduates only.  Because of this, students span an age range where a wide spectrum of mental illness is seen.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a study by NHS Digital and the University of Exeter found that 13% of young men and 27% of young women between 17 and 22 years had a mental health disorder. This report shows an increase in the rate of mental health problems, especially among young women.

What Is Meant By Mental Illness?

 Mental illness can be thought of as how we think, feel and behave. There are many contributing factors that can impact one’s mental health, such as;

• Genetics – brain chemistry and biological factors.
• Life experiences, post-traumatic stress or abuse.
• Family history of mental health problems.

With the correct support and coping methods, people who suffer from mental illness can be mentally well. And likewise, people without mental illness can experience very poor mental wellbeing in challenging circumstances where they don’t have the correct support.

Common Mental Health Disorders Among Students.

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bi-polar disorder
• Eating disorder
• Self-harm
• Borderline personality disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• ADHD/Attention Deficit Disorder
• High levels of substance misuse

The impact on studies

A recent report from Randstad gives us some interesting statistics on student mental health in 2020.

• 37% of students report deteriorating mental health.
• In 2019 55% of students surveyed said they had considered leaving their course and dropping out of university. The top 3 reasons for this were mental health issues, not being able to cope with the stress and not feeling like the got the support they needed.

However mental health doesn’t just result in students dropping out, it can also negatively affect:

• Performance
• Attendance
• Relationships
• Wellbeing

What is being done to help?

In the above example of the 55% of students who had considered leaving their course, 71% of them said that the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) had given them the support and confidence needed to stick at it. 96% of students who received DSA support said they would recommend it to others.

For students with mental health problems the weekly meeting with the same Specialist mentor for the duration of their course can be invaluable. In a recent training webinar by Optimum Student Support a mentor told a story of how one of her students had gifted her the only ticket to their graduation ceremony.  A lovely gesture and it helps to illustrate how the student felt about their mentoring support.

There is still some way to go though in increasing awareness around the Disabled Students Allowance and mental health as a whole.  In 2019 the BBC reported that due to confusion over what was meant as a disability and poor awareness meant that 60% of students who would be eligible for the DSA had never heard of it.  A lot of people aren’t aware that disability refers to anything that has a negative impact on how someone carries out day to day tasks, which includes mental illness.

We try our best to raise awareness through our blog and social media pages. If you are student reading this and you do feel like you struggle with mental health you may be entitled to the DSA. Click here to read more about DSA funding and the DSA assessment process.

This article was created from notes taken at an online webinar by Optimum Student Support and this Randstad Report.

 

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Video Games Can Improve Mental Health

A new Oxford University Study investigating the correlation between video games and mental wellness shows that video games can improve mental health.

If you observe the way the media portrays video games, you mainly see negative discussions around addiction, escapism, violence or how much money the developers are making. From TV to the news, video games are consistently getting the negative tag and stigmatised amongst other forms of entertainment.  It is very rare you see discussion of the positive effects of video games and we often fail to consider benefits to the life and wellness of gamers.

The Oxford study observed respondents who play EA’s shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Nintendo’s recent hit Animal Crossing. Everyone who participated reported greater well-being and positive mental health owing to their gaming activities.

Previous studies have been done like this but they didn’t incorporate actual play-time data. Whereas thanks to the online nature of these games they were easily able to monitor the time the participants spent playing. The team at Oxford then connected their psychological questionnaires to the gaming time, making it possible to gauge a person’s mental well-being in connection to their game time.

The researchers further solidified their findings by observing several factors connected to gamer experiences, including enjoyment, feelings of autonomy, improved competence and satisfaction.

Although this research is a step in the right direction for many gamers, the findings are not all-encompassing. This research was only conducted based on the two games mentioned above, and any other game could have greater or less impact. Another factor is a person’s attitude or disposition towards gaming which can positively or negatively affect their mental health or experiences.

In light of these new findings, Oxford University hope that the study will spring up more discussions into the benefits of video games and also help to shed more light on video game addiction.

It is estimated that almost 3 billion gamers exist in the world, with a large number of them enjoying the life-improving and overall positive effects of their hobbies.

Will this research influence people to stop tagging video games as sinister, stealthily harmful, and as guilty pleasures which we should overcome and conquer?

Perhaps, now is the time to change the perspective about video games and their effect on mental and general well-being.

Check out the Oxford Press Release and read the full study here

check out more of our posts on student mental health or learn more about the dsa assessment process.

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BBC Arts Launch Creative Commissions for Disabled Artists

As the coronavirus pandemic continues with restrictions in place across the UK. BBC Arts are doing what they can to support the arts and artists. Their recently launched Culture in Quarantine Initiative aims to keep art thriving in the homes and hearts of the public despite the pandemic.

Back in April, BBC arts invited artists to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown with their creative work. The commissioning strand was widely successful, with the production of 25 commissions that reached millions of audiences on BBC and other social media platforms. One of the pieces that garnered the most attention was the Swan Lake bath performance, preformed by the cast of swan lake (included at the bottom of this blog post).

It is on the heels of this success that BBC is creating the new commission strand, targeted solely at disabled artists to amplify their voices, messages and talent.

Marking the 25th year since the Disability Discrimination Act got passed into law, BBC Arts is partnering with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of England, Creative Scotland, and Arts Council of Wales. The strand will see artists across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England produce works of art that BBC will host on its platforms.

Invitations will go out to disabled, neurodivergent, and D/deaf professional artists to apply for funds to produce new audio/visual works. In total, the fund will commission ten new pieces of work.

Artists featured on this new strand can produce work telling of the experience of living through the coronavirus pandemic as a disabled creative. However, it is not compulsory to create work in that area.

Applications for the new strand opened on Monday, November 9th, 2020, and closes midday on Tuesday, January 12th, 2021.

A panel consisting of representatives from BBC Arts, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the U.K Disability Arts Alliance will select the commissions to be produced.

The production of all selected works will likely take place between March and June 2021 and air on all BBC platforms later in the same year.

To apply or learn more visit https://www.thespace.org/commissioning

If you are finding the second lockdown difficult we have a range of content on our blog that may be able to help.

This video of Swan Lake performed in bath tubs was a result of the previous BBC Arts commission…

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Video Blog #12 – How To Minimise Anxiety During Lockdown

In this video blog we have 7 tips on how to minimise anxiety during lockdown.

The information in this video is taken from a previous blog post we did on how to minimise anxiety during the Coronavirus pandemic. You can read that article here. 

Thanks,

A2B Assessments

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Understanding The Mental Health Of Young Adults

Researchers at the University of Exeter have started a new study to learn about the mood, emotions and mental health of young adults.

People aged between 16 and 22 years are to taking part by logging their feelings in a smartphone app. The app is designed to identify the behaviours of users, improve their wellbeing, prevent anxiety, and depression.

‘MyMoodCoachApp’ will provide cognitive behavioural therapy and self-help techniques to help users understand and handle their emotions. Aiding participants in developing resilience, building emotional and mental strength and improving their wellness.

The group of researchers will then use the data to gain a better understanding the mental health of young adults.

Why is this Study Important?

A growing body of work and research shows that depression and anxiety are a common problem among young people and the rates are fast increasing.

A recent survey that compared mental health from 2018 to 2019 found an increase in the clinical documentation of mental distress. From the results, the percentage of young adults suffering from clinical distresses has increased from 25% to 37%.

Data also shows that 1.25 million people between the ages of 17 and 19 (25% of the population) have significant anxiety and depression levels. Sadly, less than 1/3 of these people get any professional help.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a study by NHS Digital and the University of Exeter found that 13% of young men and 27% of young women between 17 and 22 years had a mental health disorder. This report shows an increase in the rate of mental health problems, especially among young women.

Depression is the most common of all mental health problems, with impacts that cut across every sector of a person’s life.

The only way to tackle this global challenge is to stage early interventions to promote positive mental health and well-being among young people. Engaging people with this app is a great step because it will reach them via a favourite medium of theirs.

How does the App Work?

The MyMoodCoach app will require users to fill in details about their emotions and moods every day, creating an overview of their emotional patterns. In some cases, the app will offer 2/3 of users the strategies to help them handle their emotional well-being.

For instance, if a person’s data report shows that they worry a lot, the app can provide such a person some strategies and self-help tips to manage their emotions and reduce worry.

The researchers will observe these processes to discover what elements in the app works best to help young people.

Conclusion

Research shows that helping young people to manage their emotions better will lead to a reduction in cases of anxiety and depression.

If we can help young people worry less, express their emotions, or develop more helpful mind-sets, we can reduce the rates of depression and anxiety amongst high-risk groups as much as 50% over the next year.

If this sounds like something you would find useful you can learn more and get the free app here… https://www.mymoodcoach.com/

See more of our articles around mental health or learn more about the disabled students allowance.

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6 Google Chrome Extensions That Improve Accessibility

Google Chrome accounts for 69% of all web browser market share, making it the most popular web browser globally. One of the main reasons Chrome is so successful is it’s ability to add third party extensions that customise how you interact with the internet.

In this blog post, we will look at 6 Google Chrome extensions that improve accessibility.

AT Bar

This is a free, open-source, cross-browser toolbar that gives people the power to change how they see and interact with websites. The idea is to have a single toolbar that gives you all the functionality that is typically achievable with various products and settings.  With it, it changes how websites look and feels, reads text out loud and spell checks.

Get the Chrome extension.

BeeLine Reader

 BeeLine has a colour gradient guides eyes from at the end of a line to the start of another. Reading will be easier and faster because you can quickly move between the lines. Users have noted a 30 percent increase in reading time with this extension. Grade school students to graduate-level students have used BeeLine to help them with their reading speed.

We did a full write up on BeeLine Reader which you can read here.

Get this extension.

Google Dictionary

At some point it is likely you will come across a word that you don’t know the meaning of. With the Google Dictionary you can can do the following:

• Double-click a word to see its definition, which will appear in a small bubble.
• See the entire definition of any word or phrase with the toolbar dictionary.
• Keep a list of words you looked up to review at a later time.

Get this extension.

Grammarly

Grammarly can be a writer’s best friend, eliminating writing mistakes – spelling, grammar and tone – and provide you with the words that best describe what you’re trying to convey. This extension offers real-time feedback in Google Docs, Gmail, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Anywhere you do your writing, Grammarly offers its assistance.

Despite the name, Grammarly focuses on more than just grammar. It makes writing improvement recommendations, so the message is clear to the reader.  When you register your account, Grammarly will send you a weekly writing report about your progress and note areas that need improvement.

Check out our full write-up here…

Get this extension.

Read&Write For Google Chrome

Read&Write for Google Chrome offers customised support to access web pages, documents and other Google Drive file types a little easier.  This app helps people to engage with digital content based on their learning styles and abilities. The primary functions of Read&Write are speech to text and text to speech.

Get this extension.

Zoom For Google Chrome

Make reading a little more comfortable with the Zoom for Google Chrome extension. Use the zoom button and mouse scroll wheel to zoom in or out on any web content.

Zoom is easy to use and is ideal for people with various eye conditions or who just have a hard time reading content on a screen. As the best magnifying browser extension, Zoom for Google Chrome offers a zoom slider so people can customise and find a percentage scale that makes it easier to read a site.

Get this extension.

Thank you for reading and hopefully you enjoyed this blog post on 6 Google Chrome Extensions That Improve Accessibility.

Learn more about A2B and the DSA assessment process

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