Ohio University's Office of Health Promotion is launching a new peer well-being network in February 2024.
Taylor Bauer, assistant director of peer health, education and empowerment within the Office of Health Promotion, said the network intends to connect with each academic college and sponsor students who will relay the issues they see from their peers regarding mental health and well-being within their academic colleges and personal lives.
"In thinking about this initiative, we're really focused on how we can bring students into our space, bring students into our conversations and have students really help us," she said.
Bauer said a large part of the program also includes utilizing peer educators as a resource on campus to create mechanisms and projects to start conversations and support students regarding various subjects.
Hannah Fleming, a first-year graduate student studying social work, is the graduate assistant for peer health education in the Office of Health Promotion, and she is in charge of supervising peer educators.
Fleming said peer educators get trained through a curriculum called the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. After the students are certified through the program, they can help navigate students toward available resources they have on campus and assist in difficult conversations.
"They can go out and kind of activate conversations with students on campus," she said. "Just helping students navigate what's available to them and navigating those tough conversations."
The Office of Health Promotion received state grant funds through the Ohio Department of Higher Education to leverage the office's initiatives to support mental health and well-being.
The Office of Health Promotion recently filled every peer educator position with a new cohort of 10 in addition to the six they had previously, Fleming said.
Ann Brandon, associate director of prevention and education within the Office of Health Promotion, emphasized the significance of being able to add to the current educators on their staff and the importance of having these positions because the current funding is only available until 2025.
"The first level of peer educators was something that we dedicated the time and space to do, or that has been dedicated to sustainable positions," she said. "Our job is to establish the positive impact and measure the positive impact on student well-being, and we're really excited to do that."
Brandon said the program is designed to help support students through a more inclusive approach to ensure a variety of students' needs are met.
"Student well-being is going to be and is centered, and campuses across the U.S. and internationally, nationally, and we have to take a nuanced approach because every student identity cannot be a one size fits all," she said. "What we're doing differently (is) we're centering student voices and identities."
Bauer said she believes many of these conversations are already happening within friend groups and student organizations. Still, talking as a community about issues concerning personal well-being is important.
Fleming said this specific program is essential when considering recent events – such as the COVID-19 pandemic – that significantly affected many students' mental health and well-being.
"College students' well-being has kind of struggled, especially since the pandemic, but also in general," she said. "The stress of leaving home for the first time, being on your own, and all of the demands that come with academics, your social life and even financial demands can really be a lot, and it can really cause people's well-being to struggle."
Brandon said the most important aspect of having this program is to put student's needs first and help them achieve their goals.
"It's really about that centering on the needs of students because that's why we're here. There is no other reason why we're here," she said. "It really is a passion of ours to care about students."
