Bath Spa joins emotional fitness programme
News
Bath Spa joins emotional fitness programme
Monday, 10 June, 2019Bath Spa University has become the latest university to join forces with Emotional Fitness app Fika in its mission to mainstream Emotional Fitness across UK students.
Alongside existing partner universities including Exeter, Lincoln, Manchester Metropolitan and CUSU: London Campus, Bath Spa University will support Fika as it aims to raise the national agenda surrounding the importance of regular emotional exercise for students’ attainment, employability and wellbeing.
Bath Spa University puts student wellbeing at the very core of its focus, with a friendly community of around 8,000 students and staff and outstanding facilities in breathtaking locations, Bath Spa is an inspiring place to study. The university will pilot Fika’s Emotional Fitness app, as well as participate in Fika’s three-year evidence-based study into the efficacy of regular emotional exercise.
Fika offers a scalable, preventative solution for student wellbeing - offering guided five-minute emotional exercises designed to help students build their resilience, confidence, empathy, active listening skills and positive thinking.
Fika is designed for students to use on their own, face to face with their friends, or in multi-user ‘pods’, where peer groups can support and motivate each other.
The app is science-backed, drawing on theory and research from across positive psychology and sports psychology as well as more traditional methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) and solution-focused therapy.
“We’ve always been proactive and progressive when it comes to student mental health at Bath Spa, and our attainment data shows this proactive approach really works,” says Sara Gallagher, Head of Student Support at Bath Spa University.
“Fika offers something very different and refreshing: it’s highly inclusive, and it destigmatises mental health by using new language. We’re really excited to partner with Fika, and to experiment with all the different ways we can use it. We have very high hopes for Fika.”
“Going to university today is a serious investment and comes with its own pressures - it’s as important to us as ever to ensure students feel emotionally well and in control of their lives” adds Rebecca Schaaf, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience at Bath Spa University. “We’re very excited to add Fika to our student wellbeing offering and couldn’t be more supportive of their mission to change the way young people think about and approach their own emotional health.”
Nick Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Fika, said: “We’re delighted to join forces with Bath Spa University in our mission to mainstream Emotional Fitness across the UK’s students. They are a fantastic university with an impressive track record for student wellbeing - we’re privileged to be working with them.”
More information on how to access the app coming soon.