Wellness Classroom Visits

Wellness Classroom Visits is a collaboration between Student Wellness Services and the Community Mental Health & Well-Being Strategy.

 

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students during a wellness classroom visit at University of Calgary

What is a Wellness Classroom Visit?

Wellness Classroom Visits are 5-minute presentations delivered by a trained student peer helper with Student Wellness Services. The presentations have been developed by Student Wellness Services and the Community Mental Health & Well-Being Strategy.

In-person and interactive

The presentations are designed to highlight the importance of specific theme related to well-being and academics, teach a specific strategy relevant the topic, and provide information about relevant campus resources and support. During the presentations, volunteers also share their experiences as a student which normalizes experiences with mental health and academic challenges and promotes help seeking. After a presentation, instructors will be sent additional mental health and academic resources to share with their class.

Wellness topics for fall 2024 include:

  1. Managing Burnout
  2. Prioritizing Wellness
  3. Mindfulness for Stress Management
  4. Practicing Self-Compassion
  5. Strategies for Exam Anxiety
  6. Overcoming Perfectionism
  7. Setting Realistic Expectations
  8. Building Social Courage and Meeting New People 
  9. Making Positive Behavioural Changes
  10. Addiction and Recovery Supports

Looking for other options?

As an alternative to in-person visits, we can also:

  1. Facilitate presentations virtually over Zoom
  2. Provide PowerPoint slides and materials to instructors who would like to facilitate the presentations to their class themselves
  3. Provide instructors with Wellness Classroom Visit videos that they can show their class at any time
  4. Check out the Student Wellness Services Health Promotion & Outreach Team website to explore other ways we work with faculty to support them in promoting student wellbeing.

Please email us to inquire about these options at communityhub@ucaglary.ca.

Background

This project recognizes the reciprocal relationship between students’ mental health and their academics. In the most recent National College Health Assessment, 58% of students reported that academics were traumatic or very difficult to handle. In addition, three of the top four factors indicated by students as affecting their academic performance were directly related to their mental health, including stress (42%), anxiety (35%), depression (24%) and sleep difficulties (29%) (ACHA, 2019).  

In addition to being driven by this data, the classroom visit initiative was conceptualized based on student feedback provided by undergraduate interviews conducted in 2021 by the Campus Mental Health Strategy Teaching & Learning Subcommittee as part of a Strengths and Needs Assessment (Lindsay, Bernier, Boman, & Boyce, 2023). Students emphasized the importance of the following key activities to support student mental wellbeing in their courses: 

  • Prioritizing mental health consistently and collectively across their courses 
  • Guiding students to relevant mental health and academic supports 
  • Promoting mental health literacy, including incorporating education on mental health into classes 
  • Facilitating connection building between students   

These findings underscore the value of developing initiatives that both support student wellbeing and academic development, which is the purpose behind Wellness Classroom Visits. The initiative was piloted in fall 2021 and winter 2022 and had great uptake and positive feedback from students and faculty. We received SU Quality Money which enabled us to grow and expand the program from fall 2022 to winter 2024. We are excited to continue to offer this program in collaboration with the Community Mental Health & Well-Being Strategy.

When my professor requested the wellness classroom visit from the student wellness services, I felt a sense of comfort. It was a reassuring idea that my professor and the school cared about the wellbeing of us students. During the presentation, resources were provided to me that I otherwise would not have looked for myself. This initiative truly inspired me to be aware of my wellbeing and to proactively take care of it. The strategies in the presentations I now regularly use in my daily life, and they have immensely helped me throughout the midterm season. 

Monique

Undergraduate Student 

I thought the volunteers were great! I really liked their balance between the prepared slides and their own personal experiences. I am always impressed by the willingness of students to come speak to classes and the volunteers rose to the challenge beyond my expectations. I believe that this initiative has high value to students in facilitating their personal and academic development. 

Dr. Nicole T. A. Sandblom 

Interim Director, Natural Sciences Program , Professor (Teaching), Department of Chemistry