From May 27th to May 31st, 2024, the Project “Building Mental Health Capacity at Higher Education Institutes in Southeast Asia (MentalHigh)” organized a face-to-face partner meeting at the Universitat Jaume I De Castellon (UJI), Valencia, Spain to evaluate its ongoing activities. The project, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union during the period 2023 – 2026, has the goal of improving mental health for lecturers, staff, and students at universities in Southeast Asia.
Representatives of 10 project partners participated in the meeting. Vietnamese partners included VNU University of Education, Hanoi (UEd), VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh city (USSH), Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA), Vinh University of Technology Education (VUTED), Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF). Cambodian partners included Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) and National Institute of Education of Cambodia (NIE). European partners included Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland (TUAS), Universitat Jaume I De Castellon, Spain (UJI) and Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany (HAW) – the project coordinator.
Consortium participating in the MentalHigh Project’s partner meeting
Opening remarks of the conference, Ms. Cristina Botella, Director of LabPsiTec (Laboratory of Psychology and Technology), at University Jaume I De Castellon (UJI), Valencia emphasized the importance and practical significance of project. In her speech, she stated that the current situation of mental health of students and lecturers at universities in Southeast Asia is one of the issues of concern for higher education institutions; and it is meaningful to implement activities within the framework of the MentalHigh project, providing assessments and comments to improve the mental health of students and lecturers, thereby creating a more effective learning and working environment.
Ms. Cristina Botella, Director of LabPsiTec (Psychology and Technology Laboratory),
at University Jaume I De Castellon (UJI) opened remarks at the Conference
At the meeting, Prof. Dr. Gunter Groen, project coordinator – Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany (HAW) introduced the MentalHigh project and reported the important results that the project has achieved. In addition, the representatives of Vietnamese and Cambodian project partners received Certificates of Appointment to Student Board of each institution to acknowledge the role of students contributing to the MentalHigh project.
Prof. Dr. Gunter Groen, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany (HAW) – Project Coordinator, spoke at the Conference
Prof.Dr. Gunter Groen – Project coordinator awarded Certificates of Appointment to Student Board of project partners
At the conference, project members presented and discussed the implementation status of the project’s work packages, as well as plans for the future. Specifically, the project will have scientific publications in prestigious journals with the goal of widely disseminating the project. The online course called ‘MoodCare’ has completed its content and is collecting feedback from the Student Boards. A total of 48 course videos are being produced. In addition, MoodCare will also be integrated into the project’s official website at www.mentalhigh.net. When the project is completed, the online course and app will be provided free of charge to students, staff and lecturers of project members.
Ms. Mari Lahti – Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland (TUAS) presented preliminary results of focus group interviews at Vietnamese and Cambodian universities.
Ms. Cao Thi Huong – Vinh University of Technology Education, Vietnam (VUTED) presented the App design and online course results to date
Ms. Guadalupe Molinari and Ms. Laura Sanahuja –
Universitat Jaume I De Castellon, Spain (UJI) presented at the conference
In the near future, project partners will organize Mental Health Calendar events (MHC Event). This event will be shared online with other educational institutions.
Ms. Astrid Jörns-Presentati discussed organizing seminars and training programs to improve Mental Health (Mental Health Calendar – MHC Event) in Vietnam and Cambodia
Ms. Dang Hoang Minh, VNU University of Education, Vietnam (UED) presented technical development steps of the Mental Health App
In addition, other activities of the project will also be continuously implemented and completed, including writing scientific articles, developing lectures for online courses, and developing the app of health care support, prepare capacity building seminars, release dissemination products for the project.
Ms. Nguyen Bich Hong – Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, Vietnam (TUEBA), presented the project’s dissemination plan
After 5 days of the event, project members agreed on the time and method of implementing the next activities of the project. The face-to-face partner meeting took place successfully and achieved many remarkable results. In the coming time, project members commit to make every effort to carry out the work on schedule, as committed, and with high value and spread.
Ms. Astrid and Mr. Gunter shared sample videos on how to organize seminars and training programs on mental health promotion
Some pictures at the Conference:
Reporter: Do Thi Thuy Linh – Collaborator of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation, TUEBA