The purpose of this project was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a mental health literacy program specifically designed for graduate students at McMaster University. The project received ethics approval from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB). There are 2 components – Level 1 modules and workshops focused primarily on supporting undergraduates which were developed, offered to hundreds of graduate students at McMaster, and a Level 2 workshop focused on protecting and preserving mental health in graduate school, which was developed and piloted to a small number of graduate students.

The programs, known as the Professor Hippo-on-Campus Mental Health Education Program for Graduate Students, built and capitalized on  our existing program for faculty and staff, and included four online modules followed by a 2.5-hour online workshop. The initiative aimed to  engage graduate students in structured dialogue, enhance their knowledge about mental health and available resources, and practice key skills to support others and care for themselves.

1. Registrations, Consent Form, and Module Pre-Survey:
   • 208 students completed a consent form and 207 Pre-Module Surveys were collected.
   • Participants received a $5 gift card incentive and access to the online modules.
2. Online Modules and Module Post-Survey:
   • 179 students completed the modules (86% completion rate). Four modules covering mental health issues, inclusive thinking, effective communication, and recognizing/responding to distress. No incentives.
   • 178 students completed the Post-Module Survey (99.44% completion rate, based on the participants that completed the modules), receiving a $15 gift card.
3. Level 1 Workshop:
   • 165 students attended virtual workshops, each receiving $25 gift card.
   • Workshops covered key concepts, resources, communication skills, self-care, and boundary-setting.
4. Workshop Post-Survey and 3-Month Follow-up Survey
   • 164 students completed the Workshop Post-Survey (99.39% completion rate, based on the participants that attended the workshop).
   • 161 of those students completed the 3-Month Follow-Up Survey (97.58% completion rate).
   • 14 out of 14 participants that did not attend a workshop completed the 3-Month Follow-Up Survey (100% completion rate).
   • Participants received a $50 gift card for the follow-up survey and a $30 bonus gift card for completing all phases
5. Level 2 Workshop Research, Development and Pilot:
   • Identified unmet mental health needs and key priorities with graduate students for a follow-up workshop through prior work, Level 1 experiences and follow-up surveys.
   • Developed objectives to discuss challenges, enhance self-care, and apply knowledge through interactive exercises.
   • Researched effective strategies and approaches to improve graduate student mental health, chose methods to engage and teach key concepts and approaches.
   • Ran a pilot workshop with five participants and captured additional feedback about the experience. No formal evaluation undertaken to date

The program also demonstrated an increasing sense of belonging as graduate students progressed. As seen in the chart below, at baseline 55% of graduate students felt a sense of belonging. This increased to 57% after the modules and 66% after the workshop. This cannot necessarily be attributed to participation in the workshop only, however we postulate and anecdotal feedback confirmed that particularly for students who are feeling isolated or may be experiencing emotional or mental health challenges who attend the workshop, it helped them feel less alone and ‘normalized’ some of the stresses and reactions they were experiencing, and also connected them to other students across the graduate community through meaningful dialogue.