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In this segment of KSMU's Sense of Community Series on College Life in the Ozarks KSMU's Michele Skalicky looks at the more common types of health issues facing students.
It’s Sheila Bowen’s job to promote wellness on the Missouri State University campus. While many college students appear to be the picture of health, they can benefit from educational programs geared toward them that will help them stay that way. Healthy sex education programs along with alcohol and drug prevention efforts are offered on campus. And MSU is looking into offering recovery groups like AA and Al-Anon so they’re more accessible to college students.And Bowen is helping out in an effort to get tobacco completely off of the MSU campus by 2012. As of August 15th of this year, Missouri State is smoke-free except for 25 designated areas. And leading up to the tobacco free date, an awareness campaign is underway…
Students have been involved in the effort from the beginning. Justin Johns is working on his Master of Social Work at MSU…
Delores Joyce is project coordinator for the Ozarks Public Health Institute at Missouri State. She says one reason she would like to see a tobacco-free campus is to reduce the number of students who take up smoking in college…
But smoking isn’t the only health concern facing college students. Burnie Snodgrass, director of health and wellness services at Taylor Health and Wellness at Missouri State, says they’re seeing more students insecure about their future. They’re under stress to succeed in college because of the economy, and that’s taking a toll on their health…
To address that, Taylor Health and Wellness is taking a holistic approach to medicine to help students with a variety of issues.According to Snodgrass, stress can lead to rushed eating, choosing unhealthy foods and less sleep, all of which leave the body’s immune system weaker…
Snodgrass says it’s the time of year when viruses spread quickly in classrooms and dorms, and those who are under stress are more susceptible to catching whatever’s going around. Being down for a few days because of illness, he says, can affect a student’s grade.Taylor Health and Wellness educates students about finding balance in their lives and helps them learn to cope with stress. There are 14 healthcare providers at Taylor—2 psychiatrists, a headache specialist, a diabetic educator and others…
Students pay a $54 health fee each semester which gets them basic unlimited office visits.Another health concern for college students is sexually transmitted diseases…
He says they talk to students about prevention—that the best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and any other preventable diseases is to not do the things that cause them…
But he acknowledges it can be difficult to get students to heed the warnings.Snodgrass says parents can help prepare their kids early for making good choices in college by always being open and honest with them and keeping the lines of communication open well before they leave home.For KSMU and the Sense of Community Series, I’m Michele Skalicky.
