Insights Learned from College Students with Mental Illness in a University Collaborative Health System

Abstract

Problem Statement: Examining the experience of mental illness among college student participants when they are prescribed medication provides the potential to gain insight into medication adherence in addition to other healthcare service issues and barriers with mental illness in a university collaborative healthcare system that students face.  Purpose and Methodology: Photovoice methodology allows individuals to use cameras to photograph their everyday health and work realities, thereby focusing on issues of greatest concern and communicating these issues to policy makers, healthcare providers, and influential advocates who can be mobilized to make change.  Researchers provided disposable cameras to the participants. These participants captured photographs of their everyday experiences that reflect their individual perspective on their lives with medications.  Once the photographs were collected, the researchers held group and individual reflection sessions with the photographers to discuss their photographs and how their photographs essentially gave them a voice about their medications. The researchers then qualitatively analyze the discussions and photographs to develop general themes regarding the research group.  Finally, dialog was held between research participants and healthcare providers with the goal of education and action-oriented change. Findings and Conclusions:  The study included 12 college students prescribed one or more medications to gather descriptive rich data regarding use of photovoice methodology, to assess the collective and individual experience of prescription medication use in this group, and to share findings with a small group of healthcare providers and staff on campus. Photovoice research methodology has not yet been applied to medication-taking behavior of a college student specific population. The perspective on student experiences provided by this research may be able to enhance the delivery of medications, mental health services and awareness for students within the university campus and the broader community.