Assessment Of Awareness Among Academic Advisors For Students With Mental Health Problems In Higher Learning Institutions: A Case Study Of The University Of Dodoma

ABSTRACT

Prevalence of mental health problems among students in colleges and universities is inevitable. Thus, it is imperative that academic advisors equip themselves for service provision and making referral to appropriate services. Social advising services among students with mental health problems still remain inadequate in higher learning institutions. This study assessed the awareness among academic advisors of students with mental health problems in higher learning institutions by drawing examples from the University of Dodoma. It employed a cross-sectional research design and applied mainly qualitative research approach and some elements of quantitative research approach. Purposive and systematic random sampling techniques were used in selecting respondents for this study. A questionnaire tool was used to obtain data from academic advisors, students and wardens. Documentary review was used to obtain data about students‘ enrolled and experienced mental health problems. Also, documents concerning job description of academic staffs and principles which guide the roles of academic staffs were reviewed. Qualitative data were analyzed according to their pattern of descriptions from the respondents, and quantitative data were processed and analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. The findings are presented using tables, percentages, figures and simple bar graph. The study found that awareness of students with mental health problems among academic advisors is still little. The reason behind is lack of knowledge about what they are supposed to do and there is lack of description about their role as academic advisors entail. The study concludes that majority (86.7%) of academic advisors perform this role based on their experience and humanness. This study recommends that policy makers should incorporate guidelines for the role of social service provision in job description for academic staffs.