a growing experience - Student Services - University of Melbourne

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSNumber of visits per student(Number of respondents=249)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Percentageofrespondents47.8 26.5 15.7 4.4 3.2 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4Student evaluations of their experiences in visiting the health service are of particularinterest. Asked how well a set of statements reflected their experience, students gaveratings of each item on a four-point scale. Table 76 presents a summary of theirperceptions of the experience and the help they received.Table 76Student perceptions of their experiences of the university health serviceItems Mean SDG4. I was satisfied with the service I received.(n=274)G5. I felt uncomfortable about going to the healthservice. (n=272)G6. I was able to get an appointment when Ineeded to. (n=273)G7. The health professional was sensitive to myneeds. (n=269)G8. The health professional was professionally.competent. (n=268)0Not at allPercentage ratings1Somewhat2Very3Extremely1.9 0.8 4.7 24.8 49.6 20.80.5 0.9 66.9 18.4 10.3 4.41.8 0.9 10.3 27.8 36.6 25.31.9 0.9 7.8 21.2 48.0 23.02.0 0.8 4.5 15.7 51.1 28.7As Table 76 indicates, students had very positive perceptions of the health service.The mean ratings given for satisfaction with the service received, obtaining anappointment when needed, sensitivity of the health professional and competence ofthe health professional were at or close to 2.0 on the four-point scale (0 – 3). In otherwords, the items reflect students’ experience ‘very well’. The mean rating of the oneconceptually negative item (I felt uncomfortable about going to the health service.)was very low (0.5), indicating that this feeling was not characteristic of students’experience.A comparison of the scores of students from Asian and non-Asian countries 337 on theHealth Service Evaluation scale 338 shows that students from Asian countries have alower scale score than others (the mean scores were 1.8 and 2.1 respectively), thoughthe difference is not quite large enough to reach statistical significance 339 . Studentsfrom Asian countries have a significantly lower mean rating for being able to get anappointment when needed 340 . The two groups show no difference in level ofdiscomfort about going to the health service.Also important are the reasons that students give for not going to the health servicewhen they felt they needed to (Table 77). Some 150 students fell into this category,although not all of these responded to the questions concerning their reasons for337 Number of students in this sample: Asian: n=221; non-Asian: n=40.338 This scale comprises items G4, G6-G8.339 t=1.98, 43.2 df, p=.054, two-tailed340 t=3.56, 282 df, p