On September 12, the McKinley Health Center’s health educators visited the Chez Veterans Center for the “Bring a Healthy U & I” event, where they discussed valuable health resources for students. Many students, whether returning or new to campus, may be unfamiliar with the resources available to them. This is where the health educators are vital to the community, providing important information to aid students on their wellness journeys. Among the topics of discussion were stress management, nutrition, general wellness, and sexual health.
Why is Health Education Important?
Firstly, health education empowers individuals with knowledge for informed decisions about their health. By understanding different health risks and preventive measures, people can reduce the likelihood of developing health related problems. Jeanine Bensken, a member of the McKinley health education faculty, sums the importance of health education up wonderfully:
“As defined by WHO, ‘Health education is any combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health by increasing knowledge, influencing motivation and improving health literacy. Health education can include the communication of information concerning the determinants of health, as well as individual risk factors and use of the health care system.’
Health educators are an important part of empowering individuals and communities to make informed decisions about their physical and mental health based on facts and science. We live in a world of social media and other influences. Health Educators can help sort through all of the information. Additionally, we are currently facing a mental health crisis across higher education with a variety of stressors. College can be time for learning and life-long health learning can be part of that experience.”
What Do Health Educators Discuss?
According to Jeanine Bensken:
“Currently, on campus, McKinley Health Center has health educators for Stress Management, Sexual Health, and Nutrition. In addition, we offer multi-cultural health. With a diverse campus, we recognize that there isn’t a one size fits all educational model. With stress management, we have been focusing on overall identifying stressors as well as resilience and other coping mechanisms. We try to do something educational and something fun. We hope to not only look at short-term remedies but to also help students learn about tools they can take with them for after college, as well.”
Do Health Educators Collaborate with other Campus Organizations to Promote Health and Wellness?
A supportive community enhances individual health and is also extremely important to everyone’s overall well-being. Community engagement and a feeling of belonging can help reduce stress and improve mental health. People also can also come together to address public health issues and create awareness about health challenges, which, on a broader scale, will improve health outcomes for all.
When asked this question, Jeanine replies:
“Absolutely! I have a long list of campus collaborators including academic units, cultural houses, campus rec, RSOs, etc. We know that a sense of belonging is critical to student success so we have been doing more frequent events with smaller groups this past year. We are always excited to do outreach, meeting students where they are for better health individually and as a campus community. We offer tabling, presentations, workshops and can tailor programming for the student needs. Our wellness peers are also a great source of peer-to-peer interaction on campus.”
Overall, the Chez Veterans Center’s “Bring a Healthy U & I” event was extremely successful, demonstrating that there are a wide variety of resources available to all students to promote many aspects of their wellness journeys! Students are encouraged to reach out to the McKinley Health Center with any questions or concerns.
Article written by: Baileigh Hannah
