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Health Advocates
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| Boynton Health Service is looking for passionate, enthusiastic students to become residence hall Health Advocates. |
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What is a Health Advocate? |
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. |
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Health
Advocates distribute:
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Cold and cough
medicine and cough drops
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Ibuprofen and
acetaminophen
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Band-aids and gauze
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Condoms, dental dams,
and personal lubricant
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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| 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
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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
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For more information contact Health Advocate Advisor,
Julie
Sanem at (612) 624-1940 or
jsanem@bhs.umn.edu |
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