Introduction
Have you ever tried to study when you have the flu? Or to write an essay when you’re falling asleep? It’s hard, if not near impossible. Being healthy, mentally, physically and emotionally, is important to being successful academically. – From the course home page
Health and wellness is a major area of concern on university campuses. While conversations about mental health are often prevalent, we also know that students struggle with getting enough sleep, eating health meals when they’re on the go, finding time for physical activity, taking time to recover from illness, and so much more. We wanted to address all of these issues in this topic, and help students to prioritize their health while transitioning to university.
This topic contains five activities:
What is wellness?
How do I stay healthy?
How do I take care of my mental health?
How do I recognize distress?
Think Forward | My health and wellness goals
By completing these activities, we hope that students will:
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- Recognize how health and wellness can be different for everyone
- Identify strategies for maintaining your health and wellness at university
- Learn how to recognize signs of distress in yourself and others
- Learn what supports and services are available to you
- Make a commitment to your health and wellness
What is wellness?
In What is wellness?, we introduce the idea that wellness can look different for everyone, and we introduce the seven interacting dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, financial, academic, environmental, and spiritual. For the remainder of the topic, we focus on physical and mental (emotional) health.
Learning outcomes: Students who complete this activity will begin to:
- Recognize how health and wellness can be different for everyone
>> View the full What is wellness? activity
How do I stay healthy?
In this activity, we explore a few different aspects of physical health that students may be challenged by while at university: sleep, healthy eating, physical activity, sexual health, and illness. To emphasize that students make different choices about wellness, the activity asks students to choose between two different statements that they may “overhear” on campus. Students are then presented with a fact about that topic, and given three tips about how they can take action to be healthy in that area.
Learning outcomes: Students who complete this activity will begin to:
- Recognize how health and wellness can be different for everyone
- Identify strategies for maintaining your health and wellness at university
Complete the How do I stay healthy? activity. The activity will open in a new window. This activity works best on a laptop, desktop or tablet.
How do I take care of my mental health?
Mental health is not simply mental illness, and everyone needs to take care of their mental health. This activity introduces students to the mental health continuum, and encourages them to think about strategies they can use to stay “in the green” as much as possible.
Learning outcomes: Students who complete this activity will begin to:
- Identify strategies for maintaining your health and wellness at university
- Learn how to recognize signs of distress in yourself and others
>> View the full How do I take care of my mental health? activity
This activity also contains a video, in which several different students discuss how they felt at different times of their first term, and how they navigated those situations and emotions. This video is 2 minutes and 40 seconds long.
How do I recognize distress?
A key aspect of addressing mental health problems is knowing how to identify when situations have become problematic, and when people are in distress. In this scenario-based activity, students are presented with three different situations where someone *might* be experiencing mental health distress, and asked to determine the most appropriate response.
Learning outcomes: Students who complete this activity will begin to:
- Learn how to recognize signs of distress in yourself and others
- Learn what supports and services are available to you
Complete the scenario-based How do I recognize distress? activity. The activity will open in a new window. This activity works best on a laptop, desktop or tablet.
Think Forward | My health and wellness goals
This Think Forward activity asks students to reflect on two things they are currently doing that are good for their health, and to make two commitments that will positively impact their health while at university. While we don’t necessarily expect that every student will follow through on those commitments once at UVic, setting intentions before they get overwhelmed by the first few weeks of activities has a better chance of succeeding than not setting intentions at all!
Learning outcomes: Students who complete this activity will begin to:
- Identify strategies for maintaining your health and wellness at university
- Make a commitment to your health and wellness
>> View the full Think Forward | My health and wellness goals activity