Research On Disabled Students' Life Quality, Mental Health, And Social Support In A Medical University

BackgroundDisabled students in the medical university are usually considered as a special group whose mentality situation directly relates to their study effect, life quality, and future career. In particular, as graduates' employment situation has been influenced by the global economic gloom and become more severe, this group's employment expectation and mental health are profoundly affected. In this case, it is very meaningful and necessary to investigate disabled students'life quality, mental health, and social support.ObjectivesThis paper analyzed the mentality, life quality, social support, and relevant factors of disabled students and normal students in the same medical university and compared the diffrences between two groups in order to reinforece the mental health service and provide with scientific ground for mental health education and mental hygene interference.Research MethodsThis paper used sampling, literature research, questionnaire, etc.79 disabled students were investigated and compared with 127 normal students on life quality, mental health, and social support to explore these three factors'relationship. The questionnaires included mental health questionnaire (Kessler 10), physical health questionnaire (SF-36), and social support questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed with Excel 2000 and SPSS 8.2 through following methods:descriptive analysis, single factor analysis, multi-factor analysis, including F-test, U-test, relevance analysis, and variant analysis.Main ResultsIt was found that disabled students scored lower than normal students on physical functions, physical abilities, overall health, and social function (p<0.05); in the first half year, disabled students'mental health received more influence from following factors:chronic diseases, poor self-evaluation on physical and mental health, bad sleep quality, reserved personality, poor feeling on campus life, great study pressure, employment pressure, bad interpersonal relationship, etc.; disabled students have no difference from normal students on objective support, subjective support, and support utility because of the attentive measures on study and life taken by the investigated university.Conclusion and SuggestionLife quality, social support, and mental health are mutually related and influenced. Life quality is the basis and safeguard, social support and mental health are important determinants. Among disabled students, social support and mental health cast great influence. Thus, in higher education, it is necessary and essential to take followig measures for disabled students, i.e. carry out mental health consulting and educating serivce, strengthen social support, and enhance students'communication. By doing this, we help disabled students establish healthy and upward life attitude, create harmonious interpersonal relationship, and enhance their mental health.