Overcoming Mental Distress

Mental wellness is important for everyday well-being that can be achieved through online means.

Summary of Overcoming Stress, Fatigue & Anxiety Project

During my co-op work term, I designed online content projects for the Student Experience and Well-being course that address health or academic support for students. One of my projects that I was able to create was Overcoming Stress, Fatigue and Anxiety”. This project consisted of the videos and a page for information and resources to help students in their mental health. The purpose of this project was to provide students with an understanding of their health and campus resources. For this project, I generated two videos, a tip-sheet and a page with buttons to navigate students to campus resources. The first video explained the influences on student mental health, such as their academics, responsibilities and societal influences. The video described how influences on student mental health could cause the mental health experiences of stress, fatigue and anxiety that are common in the student experience. In the second video, I integrated strategies and information about managing student health, well-being and goals. Also, this project consisted of a self-care checklist and time for mindfulness within the videos. My goal for this project was to convey the normalization of mental distress situations of the student journey to dismantle mental health stigma.

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Artifact Story: Designing Online Spaces with Accessibility and Creativity for Mental Health Awareness

This a screenshot of the Overcoming Stress, Fatigue & Anxiety module on the Quercus page that I organized on Canvas.

Results

I was inspired to create this project to display mental health awareness at UTSC. The videos provided students with the opportunity to pause and reflect on their health and personal growth. Moreover, I incorporated time for mindfulness time and a self-care checklist of questions. I created videos that developed a perspective of student mental health and the associated mental health outcomes of stress, fatigue and anxiety. This project involved my creativity in designing buttons to campus resources for mental health support, which ensured accessibility to students. The overall page design integrated accessible components such as alt-text and clickable buttons to campus resources. Overall, I was motivated to promote student resilience in their goals and health by normalizing mental distress and encouraging mindfulness in their undergraduate journey.

Reflection

From this project, I was able to showcase my communication skills and critical lens in sociology and health to the online content. This project was possible with my video-editing skills in Adobe Premiere Pro, audio editing skills in Adobe Audition and graphic design in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. Further, I applied my Adobe suite skills to create graphics and a tip-sheet with fillable sections and clickable checkboxes for the self-care checklist. Even more, I utilized a sociological lens in the conceptualization of the student mental health experience which displayed the advocacy for the mental health of students. That is, I curated online content about mental health for undergraduates that fostered engagement while ensuring accessibility for students. I endeavoured my project management skills in scriptwriting, graphic creation, video editing, and research skills while using a critical lens in sociology and health. Indeed, I used my content curation skills in the awareness of student mental health experiences and campus support in student mental health.