A study prepared by the ministries of Education and Health, found that 89% of the country’s universities have units to address the mental health of their students, while only 57% of technical-professional education institutions have similar departments.
The Ministries of Education and Health applied a survey to which 107 higher education institutions responded -of the 134 in the country-, including technical training centers, professional institutes and universities.
According to According to the analysis, while 89% of universities have units to address the mental health of their students, only 57% of technical-professional education institutions have them.
In addition, it was established that close to 40% of these departments were created between 2019 and 2022, where there was an increase in anxiety disorders and cases of depression.
The Undersecretary of Public Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado, pointed out that this study is a guide for the Government to address the gaps exposed by the survey .
The undersecretary of Higher Education, Verónica Figueroa, indicated that there is a pending task in terms of health and that it is necessary to advance in intersectoral public policies.
Sofía Fiedler, a psychologist from the Eastern Metropolitan Health Service, said that there must be a regulatory entity that ensure that higher education institutions have a defined protocol for dealing with mental health problems in their students.
As soon as to the detection and treatment protocols for mental health problems, 56% of higher education institutions stated that they have this set of rules and procedures.