STUDENT HEALTH PROMOTION

Department Mission

The Health Promotion department was created two years ago in support of the Healthy University Initiative goals. The department recognizes that wellness is holistic and interconnected, and an iterative approach is required to address key priority areas for the university. As such, Health Promotion takes a proactive approach to not only address individual behaviors but also to identify and remove systemic and environmental barriers that impede health and wellness. Departmental activities and services are aligned with Vision 2023 and are focused on the six dimensions of wellness: physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and financial.

Strategic Challenges

A Increasing health awareness throughout the KPU community.

» Health Promotion is a proactive measure that aims to target issues before they manifest.

» The department strives to provide resources, information and programming to increase awareness.

B Building individual and organization resilience.

» Supporting the individual in developing skills that will increase resilience or help-seeking behaviour.

» Supporting the institution in integrating health and wellness and become a health promoting university.

C Developing a supportive, inclusive campus environment.

» Open system educational institutions support help-seeking behaviours in at-risk populations.

» Adopting decolonization practices and actively creating safe spaces on campus for marginalized populations.

Strategic Responses

1 Develop a Peer Wellness Program in support of three main goals:

» Increase health and wellness awareness

» Provide resource referrals

» Increase social connection on campus

2 Collaborate with other departments and faculties to support campus-wide health promoting events such as Thrive Month and community engagement.

3 Consult with key stakeholders to identify key priority areas and establish an action plan to address them.

Staffing

1 Coordinator, Student Health Promotion

1 Student Assistant

5 Volunteers