Australia (Federation University) Health and wellbeing of university staff who educated students and developed the next generation of professionals
University staff are the key people involved in delivering education and supporting the development of university students to successful professionals, irrespective of disciplines or settings. Professional or administration staff also play a critical role in day-to-day activities for academic staff and university students. Many issues are not apparent to students when they study at such a tertiary educational setting. There were significant financial impacts on universities during and after the pandemic globally, resulting in job cuts and increased workload on existing staff; this was in addition to adaptation to the new online environment of teaching and learning. University staff needs to deal with all those underlying stressful situations to deliver quality education to students. There have been several studies, published in the post-pandemic era, that examined the impact of changed environments on students. However, studies focusing on the health and wellbeing of university staff, specifically during the post-pandemic environment when the stress has been heightened, are non-existent.
Professor Dr Muhammad Aziz Rahman, Head of the Discipline of Public Health and Research Adviser from the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at Federation University Australia, conducted a global study across 16 countries to examine the health and wellbeing of university staff that has just been published in BMC Public Health.
More than 2,000 university staff from Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan (China), Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mexico, and the United Kingdom (UK) participated in this study.
Professor Rahman and his team found that three in four staff had high levels of psychological distress, one in three staff perceived burn-out, and one in two staff showed high resilient coping. The study also identified several vulnerable groups of staff who had higher psychological impacts compared to other staff, such as females, staff with co-morbidities and staff with pre-existing mental health issues.
“Specific attention needs to be provided to the high-risk group of university staff identified in this global study, so that they can access appropriate support for their wellbeing at their respective workplaces”, Professor Rahman said.
Interestingly, the study also identified that many staff did not go through regular health assessments. As for example, one in three staff never checked their blood lipid profile, one in five staff never checked their blood sugar, 8% of staff never checked their own blood pressure, and 17% of staff never visited a health professional for a general health assessment.
Professor Rahman said that “if staff themselves are not fit physically and mentally, how can they deliver quality education to students?”
“It’s the right time to develop and implement tailored strategies to support the health and wellbeing of university staff. Universities should work in collaboration on allocating resources and maximising the efforts to support this important cohort of the population.”
Professor Rahman is a globally recognised public health researcher and a well-respected academic from Australia. He is the Vice President-elect (Development) and Convenor for the Health Promotion Special Interest Group at the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA). He is also a Board Director for the Council for Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia (CAPHIA).