The Mobile Minds in Motion project consortium has released a three-part Staff Handout series written specifically for the people on the front lines of student mobility: IRO staff, mobility coordinators, and counselling and psychological support services at both sending and host institutions.
While 60% of higher education staff regularly encounter students’ mental health concerns, an overwhelming majority (90%) feel they need more training and resources to handle them well. This series was created to close that gap, giving staff a clear, compassionate understanding of the challenges mobile students face, and practical tools to support them throughout their mobility journey.
Action-oriented resources
Drawing on data from 675 mobile students across Europe, the handouts are organised around practical, everyday actions staff can take, including:
- A clear picture of the emotional realities and risk factors mobile students commonly face, from language barriers and housing insecurity to cultural distance and separation from support networks.
- Stage-by-stage guidance for supporting students before, during, and after mobility, with distinct roles outlined for IRO staff and counsellors at both home and host institutions.
- Practical tools for daily practice, including how to use language that opens dialogue rather than creates barriers, how to recognise early warning signs of distress, and how to build feedback loops that improve institutional support over time.
- Guidance for building a genuinely stigma-free environment, where seeking help is seen as a sign of maturity rather than weakness.
- A quick-reference, role-based checklist that staff can use as a working tool rather than a document to file away.
One of the series’ central messages is also its most reassuring: staff do not need clinical training to make a meaningful difference. As the handouts put it, what matters most is being consistent, present, and willing to notice. A brief, genuine check-in, a warm referral, or simply the willingness to ask “how are you doing?” can be enough to interrupt a student’s silent struggle before it deepens.
All handouts in the series are freely available on the Learning Hub, an open-access platform created to provide guidance to both students and university staff with a variety of resources, including videos, podcasts, articles, guidelines.
Cover photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash