AOK Bayern and the Mental Health Crowd have launched the next phase of their unique project at universities and colleges in Bavaria with a kick-off week focusing on topics and measures to improve the mental health of students: As part of UNI4MIND®, students at Hof University of Applied Sciences are learning how to strengthen their mental resources and thus deal better with stress. This extraordinary mental health initiative is sponsored by AOK Bayern. The aim is to provide permanent services, in particular a Mental Health Café as the first low-threshold contact point, to strengthen students mentally and offer them a space to exchange ideas.
“The majority of all mental illnesses originate before the age of 25,” says Dominique de Marné, initiator of the project and founder of the Mental Health Crowd, “this is why we founded UNI4MIND® and will enable students to deal with the important topic of their own mental health and resilience with low-threshold offers and a holistic approach,” says the experience expert.
We at AOK Bayern are supporting this project because we want to strengthen people mentally as early as possible so that they can go through life with resilience. The Hof University of Applied Sciences trains future specialists and managers who will be able to use the mental health experience they gain here to benefit their employees in their future careers.”
Wolfgang Hofmann, Director of AOK Hof-Wunsiedel
Michael Bitzinger, member of the Advisory Board of the AOK Hof-Wunsiedel Directorate, adds: “Not everything in the course is easy. It’s not uncommon, for example, to find yourself under pressure to make the grades or under time pressure. We want to create opportunities to reduce these burdens and ease the pressure on students.” Annette Lutz, Head of Health Promotion at AOK Bayern, also confirms that UNI4MIND® supports students in doing just that.
Focus on health awareness
The aim of Hof University of Applied Sciences is to further develop its work on mental health and to consolidate it in subsequent years.
Our times are characterized by profound changes, upheavals and a variety of uncertainties. As a university, we therefore want to live up to our responsibility towards students and employees and place a stronger focus on promoting mental health and prevention.”
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann, President of the University
He continues: “With the UNI4MIND® program, we want to create meeting places and retreats that contribute to a pleasant atmosphere on our campus and help to balance out any mental stress.”
Creating meeting places
To introduce the program, the university held a week-long kick-off week in November with action days on the topic of mental health. This included lectures and workshops as well as movies and opportunities to exchange ideas. A new feature is a specially created Mental Health Café, which is intended to serve as a permanent information and meeting place. The program was jointly designed by external and internal experts from the university as well as AOK Bayern and the Mental Health Crowd. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dietmar Wolff, Vice President Teaching at Hof University of Applied Sciences:
“As lecturers, we are not the first point of contact when it comes to mental health problems – on the contrary. Third parties who can provide relief through low-threshold discussions are clearly in a better position here than lecturers.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dietmar Wolff, Vice President Teaching
The project is being scientifically monitored and evaluated by Hof University of Applied Sciences. The professors responsible for this are Prof. Dr. Cynthia Sende and Prof. Dr. Viktoria Bachmann. In their work, both see an increase in mental illnesses, particularly due to the corona years, which must be counteracted.
Further information can be found on the UNI4MIND® homepage at www.uni4mind.de.
