In this week’s episode, Eric Berger, a final year undergraduate student at The University of Edinburgh, is joined by Rachel Spacey, a Research Fellow based in the Lincoln Higher Education Research Institute at the University of Lincoln. They discuss her SMaRteN-funded project, “Who cares? Identifying, understanding and supporting the work-life balance of students with caring responsibilities”. Both bring their life-experiences to the conversation, with Eric discussing his time as a student with caring responsibilities for his father with ALS and Rachel sharing how her experience navigating mental health during her undergraduate degree led her down this path as a researcher. Rachel details the status of the project and her aims, while touching on the importance of participatory research.
The conversation then shifts to Rachel’s previous research on student mental health, particularly with estranged students at the University of Lincoln. She details some findings, including the need of having someone to talk to, “I think in terms of estranged students’ mental health, a lot of it was tied up with the fact that they felt unable to talk about estrangement”. The conversation rounds out with Eric and Rachel discussing the role that grief and loss play for the mental health of students with caring responsibilities, those who are estranged, or students from underrepresented groups in general, “often there can be a grieving process, but for something as well, not just for someone”. Check out the episode for more.
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