From Information to Action in Psychological Knowledge Dissemination: Systematization Of The Experience of Educational Activities of Universities

Due to growing concern about student psychological problems and the recognition of mental health as a fundamental factor in overall well-being and academic success, universities are implementing a proactive approach to maintaining mental health on campuses by disseminating knowledge, norms, and cultural models through informal educational channels. To identify key approaches to university mental health educational activities and to describe and systematize the conditions that ensure its sustainability, open data from the websites of 68 universities ranked among the leaders in the University Impact Rankings for 2024 was analysed. For analysis, 125 projects, programs, and regular events were selected that met formal criteria for institutional design, substantive clarity, and informational transparency and represented current concepts of mental health education. Sustainability of knowledge dissemination activities is ensured by the continuity and long-term nature of projects, diversification of funding sources, and the involvement of faculty, researchers, helping professionals, and students in multiple functional positions. Management is predominantly decentralized. The projects are affiliated with academic, research, administrative, and specialized departments, which determines their differences. The primary audience is students, but universities also extend their programs to a broader urban audience. Activities remain focused on raising awareness, relying on mental health literacy programs and psychoeducation, reproducing educational logic in the form of classes and courses, and focusing on information dissemination. Projects and programs that address attitudes and behaviour through stigma reduction, contact education, peer support, and a university-wide approach are significantly less common. The main topics are stress and burnout prevention, healthy lifestyles and physical health, self-knowledge, and personal development. The transition from information to action requires not an increase in knowledge, but a transformation in the principles of educational activities. The results of the analysis are discussed in comparison with practices of Russian universities relevant to international experience and will be useful in developing university-wide policies on mental health and well-being.