Through a revision of the first-year core classes, Elon University has purchased a subscription to Student Health 101, an online health magazine. The magazine provides subscribing universities with health information specific to each campus, as well as other general information which all subscribers have access to.
Resa Walch, department chair for health and human services, says when the first-year core curriculum was modified last year, the obligatory health course was eliminated. Walch’s department was then charged with the task of directing students towards health and wellness information.
“We purchased a subscription to this online magazine because it covers most of the health issues that are the most relevant to the first year students,” Walch said.
Each month, Elon can submit six pages of institutional-specific information. Walch says the website is a collaborative effort among academic departments and student life – academic departments provide information about health and wellness curriculum, and student life has a platform to communicate the co-curricular things they are working on.
This month, Elon’s pages focus on multiple entryways in the curriculum for health and wellness.
“We wanted to get the word out to the students that even though there is no longer a required health course, there is a plethora of ways that you can get health and wellness in the curriculum,” Walch said.
Through a series of surveys and focus groups, Walch learned there is significant interest in health related courses. Health 101 is helping to meet that need.
Walch is hopeful that Elon’s involvement in Student Health 101 will not only get students involved in health curriculum but also increase health literacy. She says the information is reliable and valid, but written in the style of a magazine as opposed to an academic journal, so it is user-friendly.
Each issue of Student Health 101 includes a survey that students can take after they finish reading. Gabby Szewcow, an intern for Health 101, says that these surveys ask questions to see if the issue contains helpful information. This helps the individuals who generate content modify the information to what Elon students find the most useful.
For students to access Elon’s information, they must enter the direct link that is specific to Elon. An email will be sent to students enrolled at Elon every month as the new edition is published, so they know the new information is available. They can also follow the website on Facebook and Twitter. Walch says her goal for the website is for 1,000 students to visit the page each month.
Student Health 101 puts reliable and valid information within reach for college students.
“The magazine give a lot of feasible advice because college students are so overwhelmed with classes and clubs and parties and projects,” Szewcow said. “This is a magazine that acknowledges all those aspects of college life.”