The Flourish Program

Flourish is a collaborative initiative at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) involving Academic Advising & Career Centre, AccessAbility Services, Athletics & Recreation, Health & Wellness Centre, Office of the Registrar, Office of the Dean (Academic), and the Office of Student Affairs & Services. Based on Corey Keyes’ model (Keyes, 2007; Keyes et al., 2011), the Flourish program teaches students to use their strengths to do well and feel well, pursue academic and meaningful co-curricular activities and learn skills to bounce back from setbacks quickly and adaptively.  Students are encouraged to complete the Flourish Assessment, which builds the student a profile to help them understand their signature strengths, well-being, stress and academic engagement. 

The program also plans to build a rich repository of online multi-media and educational resources for students, teachers and parents so that they have accessible information regarding mental health and how it impacts academics and social life. A sample of this repository can be viewed at www.utsc.utoronto.ca/projects/flourish/resources/.

The program has been recognized through the Excellence in Innovation Award from the University of Toronto and the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services Innovation Award.

Download the Flourish Program report (PDF).

More information on the Flourish Program.

More information on the Flourish Assessment.

References

Keyes, C. L. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American psychologist, 62(2), 95.

Keyes, C. L. M., Eisenberg, D., Dhingra, S. S., Perry, G. S., & Dube, S. R. (2011). The relationship of positive mental health with mental illness, suicidality and academic performance in US college students. American Journal of Public Health.