|
Health Advocates
|
| 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 is a Health Advocate? |
Apply Today!
Interested? We encourage you to apply! Just complete and
submit this application!
Health Advocate positions for the 2009-2010 school year are
still open in these halls and apartments: Bailey Hall, Frontier
Hall, Pioneer Hall, Territorial Hall, and Wilkins Hall. If you are
interested in a Health Advocate position in one of these halls or
apartments, please submit the application as soon as possible.
|
|
|

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 - 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 Advocate openings (3-4 openings per hall)
for the coming school year 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)
|
|
|
Apply Today!
Interested? We encourage you to apply! Just complete and
submit this application!
Health Advocate positions for the 2009-2010 school year are
still open in these halls and apartments: Bailey Hall, Frontier
Hall, Pioneer Hall, Territorial Hall, and Wilkins Hall. If you are
interested in a Health Advocate position in one of these halls or
apartments, please submit the application as soon as possible.
Training Sessions
Health Advocates are expected to move into their residence
hall early for CPR and other skills training. First-Year
Health Advocates and Health Advocates also serving as
Welcome Week Leaders will have Health Advocate-specific
training during Welcome Week. Health Advocates not involved
in Welcome Week will have Health Advocate-specific training
September 3-4, 2009.
|
|
|
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 |
|
|