ANNUAL REPORT 2021/22
Mental Health and Wellness The Counselling and Services (CAPS) retained its online counselling service which was introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The service continued to experience improved access to counselling for those students who had limited access to Campus during opening hours, many of whom were working students. CAPS facilitated approximately 2,400 consultations to students over 10 months, between September 2021 and June 2022. In September 2021, the MindWise Project, in collaboration with Google’s Women Techmakers, and facilitated by the Community Engagement Unit in the DSSD, launched the Building Sustainable Minds Volunteer Programme. Fifty-five volunteers were trained to collaborate on projects supporting national mental health including resource curation, database design, research, project mapping and design, and digital design production—at the same time providing skills and experience that would boost participants’ employment prospects. Psychological
The HSU also conducted multiple workshops to the custodial staff of the University to ensure that appropriate cleaning protocols were being followed. These workshops were conducted in collaboration with the Human Resources Division. General HSU Services – Virtual and Face-to-Face Despite the challenges faced by the pandemic, the HSU continued to provide healthcare services to the Campus community – virtually and physically, with mixed results. Some services continued to work well in a virtual format, while some clinics had to be discontinued because of low utilisation. A WhatsApp service was introduced, allowing customers to message their order or prescriptions, request pricing information and availability of medication or even to get medication advice. Even so, revenue at the Pharmacy was down 6% when compared to the last academic year. Slightly fewer students presented themselves for virtual consultations at the Medical Clinic (1041 – down 3%), but the virtual Dietetics and Nutrition Services experienced a 42% increase. Nurses’ visits were up by 5% and doctors’ visits increased by 16% over the previous year.
Staff of the Health Services Unit (HSU)
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