Salford academics sicker than rest

Health scientists at University College, Salford have uncovered some alarming facts about the well-being of their colleagues. A survey of mental and physical health on campus has revealed that staff are suffering "far more ill health than the general population."

About 300 staff completed the survey using an occupational stress indicator, following signals from staff that something could be wrong. "The staff development unit runs stress management sessions and there is always a demand suggesting that there might be problems," said Peter Eachus from the school of health sciences, who has spent the last six months conducting the survey.

The research, yet to be completed, looked into relation-ships between college staff and management and investigated job satisfaction plus "a myriad" of other topics.

"We are showing far more ill health than the general population," Mr Eachus said. An "average" score for mental health in the general population is 55.57 but at the college it was 67.92, with higher scores indicating increasing problems. For physical health the college score was 33.16 compared to 22.88 in the average population. These findings are statistically highly significant, said Mr Eachus.

The occupational stress survey has been widely used in industry but has not been carried out in higher education before.

The researchers say that the results could be typical of the education sector as a whole.