The WHO World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) Initiative, coordinated at international level by Harvard University and World Health Organization, is designed to:
- generate accurate epidemiological data on unmet needs for treatment of mental, substance, and behavioral disorders among college students worldwide;
- implement and evaluate web-based interventions for both the prevention and treatment of these disorders; and disseminate the evidence-based interventions found to be effective using a continuous quality improvement approach according with precision medicine procedures.
Babes-Bolyai University through DATA Lab and Babes-Bolyai “PsyTech” Psychological Clinic, represented by Professor Oana David is the coordinator for the national level WMH-ICS consortium, comprised of 14 universities. The universities that have joined for the next three years are: Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (coordonator), University of Bucharest, “Ovidius” University of Constanta, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, West University of Timisoara, University of Oradea, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, University of Craiova, Transilvania University of Brașov, Politehnica University Timisoara, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila” Bucharest, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, the Western University “Vasile Goldiş, and Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti.
DATA Lab is conducting three major projects within the WMH-ICS:
1. Mental health screening and assessment of drivers and consequences
Annual WMH-ICS surveys with representative samples of college students in colleges and universities throughout the world are used to estimate prevalence of mental disorders, adverse consequences (on the personal, social, and academic levels) of these disorders, patterns of help-seeking for these disorders, and barriers to treatment. Longitudinal data collection with the same students across years is used to monitor changes in incidence, prevalence and treatment of these disorders throughout the college years as well as to identify modifiable risk and protective factors.
More information can be found at https://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/college_student_survey.php
2. Online interventions
We implement clinical trials where we test the efficacy of various formats of digital interventions in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders in college students.
3. Qualitative interviews
In this research direction, we developed, together with the EMH-ICS consortium, a qualitative interview to assess students’ opinions about mental health and barriers to treatment. These interviews will be further analyzed, and based on the results, psychological interventions will be adapted for them.
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