📞 A call of about 30 minutes, made by a more advanced student, in the first term: this is the ‘telephone monitoring’ of the University of Sherbrooke, in place since 2017.
🤝 278 students called and 40 callers give their feedback: high satisfaction on both sides, clearer perceived outcomes among those who had questions
📌 The document
• describes an existing peer support system: who calls, who is called, recruitment, criteria, training, duration and number of call attempts (p. 39-40).
• gives the perspective from both sides: those who receive the call and those who make it (p. 41-47).
• presents this approach as a universal prevention initiative that is “more modest, but potentially easier to implement” than complex programmes (p. 49).
• clearly outlines its limitations, useful for reading the results with caution (p. 49-50).
Source :
📒 Peer telephone monitoring to promote the well-being of university students.
✍️ Sabrina Anissa El Mansali (University of Sherbrooke), Myriam Girouard-Gagné (University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières), Sèverine Lanoue (University of Sherbrooke), Julie Lane (University of Sherbrooke) - The Next Review, volume 2, number 4, September 2026, p. 35-56📜🔗LINK to the source
1️⃣ SUMMARY
The transition to university is described as a period of stress and anxiety for many students (p. 35). Since autumn 2017, UdeS has offered a "phone monitoring service": more advanced, trained, and paid students call new first-year enrolees (undergraduate and graduate) to listen, guide, and direct them to the right services (p. 39). In autumn 2021, 33 programmes participated; 1,740 PÉB were contacted; 278 PÉB and 40 PÉP (out of 66) responded to the satisfaction surveys (p. 40). The study, descriptive and exploratory, aims to document the perceived contributions to well-being (emotional, psychological, social) and satisfaction of both groups (p. 40). It analyses the responses using descriptive statistics and non- parametric tests (p. 41).
2️⃣ WHAT TO REMEMBER
1️⃣ High satisfaction, perceived outcomes more modest. Among PÉB (scale of 1 to 10), overall satisfaction reaches 8.84 and perceived usefulness 8.51; well-being items range from 7.23 to 8.20, with standard deviations from 2.1 to 2.6. The authors conclude that the service "seems to be appreciated to a greater extent than the outcomes it may generate" (p. 42-43)
2️⃣ The social aspect stands out more. Feeling listened to (8.20) and supported (8.06) receive the highest averages. The sense of belonging (7.86) is close to the psychological item "helping call" (7.90). The authors conclude that the social aspect stands out more (p. 43).
3️⃣ A perceived benefit also among those who call. The PÉP report being satisfied with their experience (9.33 in table 4 ; the text indicates 9.32), useful (9.45) and able to measure the progress made (8.95). Their desire to try again is lower (8.37), a significant difference with a significant difference (r = 0.518, effect described as "moderate" by the authors, but usually considered strong) (p. 47). (p. 46-47)
3️⃣ TO ACT
1️⃣ Draw inspiration from the modalities of the system. Existing system described by the document. Recruitment through three channels, criteria (good record, listening and altruism, sense of responsibility, autonomy), 3 to 15 hours of calls per week, mandatory and paid distance training, five call attempts per student, calls possible from home since 2020 (p. 39-40).
2️⃣ Take the evaluation items as a working basis. Existing tool cited by the document. Tables 2 and 4 reproduce the items from the PÉB and PÉP questionnaires (usefulness, satisfaction, well-being) (p. 42-47). The authors specify that these concepts are measured " indirectly with a limited number of questions" and suggest validated questionnaires (p. 50).
3️⃣ Incorporate peer support into success programmes. Recommendation from the authors (action requested by the document). « Universities would benefit from valuing these initiatives more by integrating them more formally » and by recognising student involvement (p. 50-51). Health Practices Suggestion: in France, this model can feed into a reflection with student health services; its transposition is not studied by the document.
4️⃣ 3 PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
1️⃣ Who makes the calls, and with what preparation? Students enrolled in undergraduate or postgraduate programmes, from the same programme as the beneficiaries but further along, trained and paid. Distance training is mandatory, asynchronous and paid; a responsible person supports them during their mandate (p. 39-40).
2️⃣ When and for how long? In the first term of enrolment, after the break week; each call lasts about thirty minutes or more; five attempts to call per student (p. 39).
3️⃣ Does the study prove an effect on well-being or persistence? No. The exploratory descriptive approach does not allow for establishing a causal link; retention has not been measured; the authors also note the pandemic context, a single measurement time and a social desirability bias (p. 48-50).
5️⃣ TO GO FURTHER
Blog Health Practices: « Study on the impact of peer support » — read the article. Broader theme (peer support in mental health), not specific to students. Link identified by indexing only: content not reviewed, to be checked manually before dissemination.
External resource: Government of Quebec, “Peer Support” (page updated on 23 February 2026) — quebec.ca. External source: implementation process in ten steps for higher education institutions, initial training of at least 24 hours recommended by the CISMC.
6️⃣ #️⃣ HASHTAGS
#healthpractices #PeerSupport #StudentMentalHealth #StudentWellbeing #Perseverance #UniversityLife #Prevention #HealthPromotion
7️⃣ VIEW ON HEALTH PRACTICES
Analysis Health Practices, not attributable to the authors.
⚠️ Accessibility (literacy): not explicitly addressed; the call aims, however, to “refer to available tools” and to guide towards the right services (p. 39).
✅ Empowerment: initiative “by and for the PE”, trained and paid students (p. 39-40) ; the PEP claim to mobilise valued skills (9.38) (p. 46).
⚠️ Equity: not explicitly addressed in the analysis; the document does, however, cite gaps by gender (p. 35), indicates that satisfaction has not been analysed by profiles (p. 49) and that Chi-squared tests did not show a significant difference, to be interpreted with caution (p. 43-44).
This article has been developed in accordance with the Charter
of the use of artificial intelligence in Health Practices.
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