Health and safety
first and foremost.

The Accent Experience

Over 30 years of experience and partnership with more than 60 colleges and universities have made Accent a leader in health and safety best practices.

With robust networks of local resources and experienced staff, Accent is your health and safety expert on the ground.  We look out for your students’ well-being while seamlessly integrating your institution’s reporting procedures and contingency planning.  Supporting health and safety for your programs is not simply about responding to emergencies, but about pro-active review and analysis of evolving circumstances, preparedness, prevention and on-going support for student psychological, emotional and physical well-being throughout the program.

What to expect from Accent

  • Emergency planning and response any time day or night. Accent has a 24/7 on-call staff member in every Study Center ready to help students and faculty in case of emergency.
  • Onsite Representation. Our staff serve as your university representative on site, helping the student navigate care, translating where necessary, and bridging communication to your U.S. based administrators and the student’s family back home.
  • Up-to-date information. Accent is linked with local authorities, U.S. consulates and embassies, and private security advisors to keep abreast of developments in all Accent cities.
  • Very Best Practices. Our contingency plans for large scale and individual emergencies are regularly reviewed and practiced in staff training exercises.
  • Mental health professional support. Accent partners with “Mindhamok” for consultation and advising from licensed mental health professionals for managing incidents including student psychological events or events which may have a traumatic impact on the program community.
  • Medical care from the very best. Andrea Guerriero, Executive Director of Med in Action, serves as Accent Medical Advisor for the development of health protocols, consulting on medical emergencies, and access to care.
  • Covid-19 Response. Click here to learn about Accent’s response to Covid-19.

Medical Support: Our medical support network has been established over 30 years, from some of the very best professionals in each city. 

Though students have access to public health care systems for emergency care in each of our cities, Accent has also linked up with local private individual physicians, medical services, hospitals and clinics, which cater to English-speaking foreigners. These make accessing routine and non-emergency medical care quick, easy and worry-free for students and their families.

Private medical partners allow students to:

  • Be in contact with a physician or nurse practitioner via chat, email or phone for general advice
  • Make their own appointments in English via phone, website appointment systems, email or text message
  • Arrange for medical house calls 24/7
  • Arrange complete care including specialists’ visits, diagnostics and even in-patient and outpatient procedures, with English speaking medical professionals
  • Provide necessary documentation for full reimbursement from student insurance or in some cases arrange for guarantees of payment for direct payment
  • Have continuity of care by having a local English-speaking physician communicate directly with the student’s home physician or family members

In addition to individual trusted physicians in the Accent network, some examples of our medical networks include:

Mental Health: Safeguarding students with easy access to the very best mental health care 

Accent partners with Mindhamok for consultation and advising from licensed mental health professionals for managing incidents including student psychological events or events which may have a traumatic impact on the program community. Mindhamok provides students with access to:

  • Toll-free (European) numbers for a 24/7 Counseling Helpline which students can use as much as they like for help navigating anxiety, homesickness, depression, etc. Though calls are confidential, Mindhamok loops in Accent if the student is in immediate danger.
  • A password protected website to request in-person appointments with local English-speaking psychiatrists, psychotherapists and psychologists, as well as access to resources on tip sheets for mental and emotional well-being while studying away from home.
  • Mindhamok steps in to support Accent immediately if a student is in distress and psychological evaluation or monitoring plans are needed in collaboration with your own campus based medical advisors.

Being Prepared: Health and safety information is tailored for students and we are dedicated to continuous improvement.

  • Accent has a health and safety team, drawn from staff in each Study Center who meet regularly with our medical advisor and Mindhamok to reflect on incidents and emerging trends.
  • Accent and partners dedicate time and resources to the development of audio-visual materials aimed at informing students about the realities of studying away from home, what to expect and ways of dealing with the challenges in a healthy way.
  • Accent and Mindhamok have developed pre-departure webinars, videos and of course have an extensive on-site orientation; all which aim to inform students about various critical topics such as the statistical increase of alcohol use on study abroad, adjustment issues, harassment and sexual assault, anxiety and stress management and more.
  • After program start, Study Centers continue to offer regular opportunities for students to discuss, share experiences and learn about different health and well-being issues.

Being There: When students need that extra support.

When unfortunate and sometimes tragic events do befall students while on their program, they are in good hands.

  • Accent staff undergo regular trainings on psychological first aid, trauma, anxiety and panic, discrimination and responding to sexual assault.
  • Accent staff are up-to-date on local law enforcement procedures for reporting crimes and sexual assault as well as institutions which provide targeted care for survivors of sexual assault.
  • We also understand that students who have undergone traumatic events may not always seek out the help the need, which is why we are vigilant and provide ample opportunities to create rapport and reach out to students
  • In addition, Accent Staff are well trained in navigating the need for discretion in attending to students’ needs, while at the same time maintaining proper institutional communications to assure the student receives the resources they need.

Communication is the key to prevention

Accent has developed our own online personal travel tracker which is easily accessible to students wherever they may be. The system provides Accent staff with real-time information on location of students traveling outside their city and allows for rapid simultaneous text messaging in case of emergencies occurring in any location where students may be traveling.

Accent works with each partner to customize communication.

  • With students, for broader safety messaging or emergency notifications and instructions;
  • With U.S.-based administrators, for incident reporting and specific reporting procedures such as those for Title IX Reporting.

For detailed information on policies and procedures please contact Accent.