Public health approaches to student mental health: A scoping review

The mental health of university students has increasingly been recognised as a critical publicand planetary health concern. Globally, university students face many stressors which cansignificantly affect their mental well-being. Public health approaches to student mental healthare beginning to be adopted by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reduce the demand onmental health services and increase student wellbeing and resilience.A scoping review was conducted to synthesise the existing literature on public healthapproaches to student mental health in Higher Education settings and provide acomprehensive picture of how public health approaches are conceptualised and implementedand evolving, alongside their barriers. Relevant databases were searched for literaturespanning a 15-year period (2009-2024). Significantly, public health approaches to studentmental health are poorly defined and currently lack a systematic mapping of how primary,secondary and tertiary measures complement each other. Policymakers and HEIs shouldconsider how public health approaches can contribute to a more strategic approach,prioritising early interventions, preventative measures, and the integration of mental healthsupport across all aspects of university life to reduce the burden on support services andimprove student wellbeing and resilience at a population level.