Factors Impacting Students' Well-Being and Possible Intervention Strategies in Kenyan Universities

Abstract

There has been a sharp increase in the issues affecting university students in both local and global contexts. Here, local and global contexts can be defined by considering factors within and without Kenya respectively. In this chapter, the authors shall discuss factors from the local context. Most of these factors have a direct or indirect impact on the life of university students. Transition from secondary schools to university introduces students to new life experiences, especially socially and academically. The freedom to make their own choices may lead them to acts detrimental to their wellbeing. Such acts include suicidal tendencies, homicide, crime, chemical dependency, depression, debt, stress, negligence of studies and other varied forms of addiction. The foregoing notwithstanding, peers, lecturers, university administration family, and the community are also affected. The purpose of this chapter is to empower students with the ideas, skills, and knowledge necessary for making sound decisions about their well-being. It covers stress, addictions, chemical dependency, suicide, homicide, and financial control. The students will be able to maintain a healthy balance between their social life and academic demands. Additionally, the chapter will empower them with knowledge for mental and physical well-being. It relates the comorbidity of the factors and provides vital information for students to lead stable lives even beyond their university time. Moreover, it also analyses some statistics emerging from trends and patterns depicted by past cohorts of university students. This is necessary for individual reflection and decision making. The data will also provide an insight for university managements to put in place support systems for addressing students' well-being and assisting those already affected by drugs and other chemical substances. The university management structures have been challenged to be affirmative in building strong cultures of resilience and systems of values in their quest to provide higher education. This is because of the changing needs of society and family set-ups in which the students live.