Peer health education has been an effective intervention strategy for students in higher education settings, because peer health education allows the opportunity for efficient relaying of health information. It is noted that peer leaders seem better than teachers, or other school professionals, at relaying health information through outreach (Borgia, Marinacci, Schifano, & Perucci, 2005). Data collected by Kirsch et al. (2014) exemplifies how on a college campus students will first and foremost turn to a friend or peer for help when dealing with mental health issues. College campus students can relate to similar issues about school, family, and lifestyle. These similarities allow for the establishment of a social connection that allows peer health educators to better realy health information to fellow students (Mosena, Ho, Ely, & Ruch-Ross, 2004).
Peer health education can also be a tool to help campus health centers reach large population with limited professional staff. Mosena, et al. (2004) notes how college campus counseling is struggling to meet the demand of services for college students. In 2014, 95 % of counseling center
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This shows that peer health education and interventions should focus its attention on addressing the high and growing prevalence of mental health issues in the college students population (Buchanan, 2012; Hunt et al., 2015; Kirsch et al., 2014). It is emphasized that many students with psychological problems do not seek counseling for their difficulties (Hunt, & Eisenberg 2010). Peer health education will need to work at changing attitudes toward seeking mental health services since it is increasingly negative among college students. (Shatkin & Diamond, 2015). By doing so, peer health education can help bridge the gap between student mental health needs and utilization of services (Kirsch et al.,
What does ‘care’ mean? Care is the provision of what is necessary for your health, welfare and protection of someone or something. However when you talk about ‘care’ in a care practice the term changes and becomes more about enabling people to meet all their needs which would refer to their social, physical, emotional, cognitive and cultural needs. The individual is central to the meaning of care in this context.
Illness. When most people hear that word, they think Cancer, Diabetes, AIDs, Ebola, or the Black Plague. The epitome of a sick person is tired, grey, and laying in bed. Now, imagine an ill person walking down the hall, sitting in class, or eating in the school cafeteria. Is it strange? This is no alternate reality. The term “illness” addresses both the physical and mental condition of a person. 20% of American teens are affected by some type of mental disorder that affects their capability to function (“Mental Health By The Numbers” 1). High schools are constantly searching for ways to improve this percentage, actions ranging from adding counselors to decreasing class size to delaying the bell schedule. One solution, known by many different names but unchanged in concept, is allowing students to take mental health days.
Stone, G. L., & Archer, J., Jr. (1990). College and university counseling centers in the 1990s:
High risk students showed greater support, quicker processing, and enhanced recall of negative depression-relevant adjectives involving incompetence, worthlessness, and low motivation (Alloy, Abramson, Francis, 1999). For these issues, the counseling center should have a support group for students. Often when a person is depressed, it feels more comfortable to retreat into one’s shell, but being around other people will make a person feel less depressed. To prevent depression, being with peers dealing with the same situations in college can go a very long way in reducing a sense of isolation and worthlessness. Support groups can also give confidence to one another, give and receive guidance on how to cope, and share college experiences.
Public health may be defined as “a social and political concept aimed at the improving the quality of life among the whole population through health promotion, disease prevention and other forms of health intervention”.(1) The purpose of public health practice is to improve the health of society rather than individuals and reduce health disparities between individuals, groups, and communities through organized effort of the communities, individuals and organizations. As Marmot points out: “creating a fairer society is fundamental to improving the health of the population and ensuring a fairer distribution of good health”.(2) Besides this, the public health field is expanding to tackling new and contemporary risks: obesity, sexually transmitted
[3, 4] However, regardless the availability and accessibility of resources, many students feel discouraged towards accessing these services due to fear of adverse consequences, which may eventually have a huge negative impact on their future. [1, 5] Aside from the issue of availability and accessibility of services, another challenge is the lack of community awareness that adds to the threat against the mental health status of many students. [6] To add to the concern, most of the states in USA have scored poorly in the mental health report i.e. out of all 51 states, a total of 45 states scored either a C, D or F, but none scored an A.
Today a college education can overload students with too many stressful situations. Not only does Stress overload today's college students, but it is also the leading cause of personality disorders. In her essay, Cathy Bell explains that major depressive disorder strikes 5-12% of men and 10-20% of women; half of these people will have more than one occurrence and 15% of them will commit suicide ("Depression for the young"). For instance, many depressives are first recognized and treated during their years in college. For a large amount of people, depression exposes itself because of traumatizing experiences, such as leaving home and/or academic stress. For other students alcohol and drugs become a first time experience.
Many students on a college campus experience stress, depression, or being overwhelmed and rarely seek mental health services on campus. A study was done at a large, highly competitive, public research university, to see how many students experience any of these things and to see how many actually use their available resources (Laven, A.). Studies found that most of these students who experienced these emotional situations tended to have lower grade point averages; however, they indicated that their problems were not serious enough, they had never used the available resources on campus, and they generally knew very little about the resources on campus (Laven, A.). Although many of the freshmen indicated that they would rather turn to friends or family for advice, if the problem is persistent and affects one’s daily life, campus resources should be used.
"Time To Change." Students Urged to Break a Taboo and Talk about Mental Health. Ed. Hayley Richardson. Time To Change, 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Health literacy plays an important role in individuals’ decision-making. The scope of health literacy does not limit to traditional medical perspective. In fact, it has extended from the basic understanding of diseases and medications to all aspects that affect health. As one of the key social determinants, health literacy has huge impact on health and well-being. Its influence is associated with disease prevention, healthy lifestyle promotion, policy making, etc. This essay will first discuss the concept of health literacy and the consequences that link to it, and then give a strategy—designing user-centred messages in education, to improve health literacy,
Education is neither linear nor static. It requires evolution and fluctuations. I received my undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at UNC Charlotte, and now it is time for a prime conversion to be made. Attending the Masters of Public Health program at UNC Charlotte would open the door for me to pursue my career aspirations in health care. Specifically, I am interested in epidemiological methods in community health. My ambition, perseverance, and work ethic have brought me to a high point, and enrolling in the Masters in Public Health program would raise that threshold even higher.
As I walk through my high school every day of school, there is one thing that both frustrates and saddens me. I never fail to notice all the unfit, overweight, and underweight students walking through the halls, gasping for air as they walk up a flight stairs. Not a day goes by that I do not wonder why people do not stand up and take stand up and question why some people do this to themselves, and the fact that no one seems to care is the worst part of all this. The health of all these students are at stake, but sometimes, they do not know any better. For all they know, their health is just as unimportant as the physical education classes seem to be at the schools. Most physical education classes in schools nowadays are just another class where
In the past 35 years the suicide rate for college campuses has tripled (Oswalt 1995). This shows that there is a clear need for something to be addressed within the college community. The recent surveys show that about 10-15% of college students are depressed (Lindsey 2009). Depression can be a debilitating illness especially when many students attend college away from their close friends and family. This could result in students with more suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide. In fact, the number of students with suicidal thoughts has tripled over the past 13 years as the number of students seeking help for depression doubled in the same span (Lindsey 2009). Depression can effect these teens in other areas of their life as well. The students who reported that they were depressed also reported that they considered their health fair or poor (Lindsey 2009). In their cases, depression not only effects them psychologically but also physically. Depression is also known to impair psychosocial development and academic success (Lindsey 2009). With all of these factors put togethe...
As it has been proven, students and depression across campuses are becoming more common daily, and it must be taken as a serious matter. There are many causes that result in depression, such as personal stress and academic stress. This severely influences a student’s life and can bring about extreme negative outcomes like suicide or eating disorders. Luckily, there are cures for this major issue. Counseling centers and mentors in the classroom and in residence halls can impact a student’s overall well-being and attitude towards his or her daily life. Depression, in conclusion, is an extremely dangerous mental illness that, if not cured with the correct treatments, could become detrimental to students across the globe.
There are numerous public health problems that can be addressed in my Southside of Chicago community. Among the several public health problems facing my Southside of Chicago community there are two that are more urgent. Health education or one might say lack thereof is a problem that needs to be addressed. My community is plagued with many of the residents suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, and the killer virus known as HIV. In most cases these conditions can be prevented with healthier lifestyles and access to nutritious organic foods. In addition, environmental health is another urgent problem my community is facing. Access to clean, safe water and air is supposed to be a fundamental human right aimed at a healthy environment. Yet, my community consists a waste contaminated beach, numerous deteriorated building that are still occupied, and a countless number of restaurant and stores supplying our residents with services that are endangering their health.