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Health Advocates
Boynton Health Service is looking for passionate, enthusiastic students to become residence hall Health Advocates.
What is a Health Advocate?
Health Advocates logo
Promoting healthy choices and assisting those who need help.


A Health Advocate (HA) is a student appointed as a health resource in his or her residence hall, fraternity, or sorority.
Health Advocates attend class every Tuesday from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. at Boynton Health Service, where they are trained to respond to common health-related issues. HAs share information and prevention strategies with other students in their hall or house. HAs also refer students to other health resources on campus.

 

Health Advocates distribute:

  • Cold and cough medicine and cough drops

  • Ibuprofen and acetaminophen

  • Band-aids and gauze

  • Condoms, dental dams, and personal lubricant

  • Emergency pregnancy tests

Health Advocates also work on health promotion projects like:

  • Starting a hall fitness club
  • Designing a wellness website
  • Developing a mental health survey
  • Creating a campaign to encourage students to eat breakfast
  • Addressing campus alcohol policies
Why be a Health Advocate?
There are many benefits to becoming an HA, including:
  • First Aid/CPR training
  • Learning about health issues important to college students
  • Leadership experience
  • Earning two credits each semester through the School of Public Health (optional)
  • Being a health resource for residents in your hall or house
  • Feeling a sense of community with other Health Advocates
  • Enhancing your resume or graduate school application
  • Gaining the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to be an agent of change in the lives of other University students
What does it take to become a Health Advocate?
We're looking for students who:
  • Are excited about promoting health
  • Plan to live in a residence hall during the 2009-2010 academic year
  • Will attend class on Tuesday afternoons during the 2009-2010 academic year
  • Are enthusiastic about a leadership opportunity that involves being a health resource for fellow residents
  • Are willing to move into their residence hall early for skills training
Which Residence Halls have Health Advocates?

We have Health Advocates (3-4 per hall) in these halls and apartments – Bailey Hall, Centennial Hall, Comstock Hall, Frontier Hall, Middlebrook Hall, Pioneer Hall, Sanford Tower, Territorial Hall, University Village, Wilkins Hall, and Yudof Hall.

Download the Health Advocate recruitment brochure (PDF)

 
Spring 2009 Health Advocate Projects
Cocoa for Coats
Eat Smart. Drink Smart
Get Fit Bingo
Smoking Awareness Week: Get Informed
Stuff Everyone Should Know About Mental Health
What kind of eater are you?
YOGA! with professional yoga instructor Holly LaBerge
 
What do former Health Advocates say about the program?

“Helping my fellow students with everything from treating a cough to answering questions about mental health gave me a whole new concept of “community service,” a concept that I wish everyone can one day experience for themselves.” -Former Health Advocate

“Through the Health Advocate program, I have gained valuable leadership and teamwork skills and learned relevant, practical knowledge I apply in every day life. This experience has given me the confidence to take leadership in daily situations, as well as taught me how to respond to people’s needs.” -Former Health Advocate

“No other course has given me such a great sense of productivity and accomplishment as the Health Advocate class. In any other course where I might have earned a good grade on an exam, the reward lies in the grade and the sense of satisfaction I take from it. The accomplishment I achieve in any of these courses is because of what I did for MYSELF. Success as a Health Advocate encompasses a completely different realm of accomplishment. When I comfort someone who takes a pregnancy test, reassure a person that they don’t need stitches, or take a temperature, I get a sense of accomplishment because of what I do for other people.” -Former Health Advocate
 
For more information contact Health Advocate Advisor, Julie Sanem at (612) 624-1940 or jsanem@bhs.umn.edu