During this period of remote learning, the Syracuse University Health Hub has gone virtual to help students stay aware of various health issues.
Peer educator Elizabeth Gostev
An interactive outreach program designed to promote wellness and encourage a healthy campus community, the Health Hub is staffed with Barnes Center at The Arch peer educators, as well as other health and wellness teams around campus.
The Health Hub used to pop up in surprise locations across campus to help engage students in learning about health issues. Virtually, the Health Hub operates through the Barnes Center Instagram page, @BeWellSU. Every Wednesday, a new Health Hub topic is posted to the Instagram page’s story.
In April, the Health Hub educated students on raising awareness about sexual, relationship and domestic violence, as well as other forms of interpersonal violence as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. They also promoted this year’s virtual Take Back the Night event.
The Health Hub also focused on alcohol and drug education, as well as ways to destress for success.
“Especially with what we’re going through now with isolation and students not being able to see other people as often, it’s important to talk about these issues—Sexual Assault Awareness Month, alcohol and drug education and destressing,” says Ella Perkins, a first-year graduate student in the higher education administration program in the School of Education and a health promotion outreach intern at the Barnes Center at The Arch.
Two peer educators create video content for the Instagram story, as well as trivia questions students can answer. The stories are saved on the page so students can view them until the next Health Hub—an advantage with the virtual space that was previously unavailable.
“We tried to recreate the energy of a real Health Hub online, so rather than having a long video and a long explanation we choose to do very quick types of things,” says peer educator Elizabeth Gostev ’20. “We’re able to recreate this pretty easily through Instagram.”
Senior peer educator Richelle Calderon ’20 says, “We’re also trying to incorporate peer educators describing how they do self-care to give students ideas.” Calderon stays mentally healthy by going on walks and making sure she gets outside.
Peer educator Raylyn Cabrera Gomez
Students can follow the Barnes Center Instagram page, @BeWellSU, to keep up with the Health Hub in addition to other services offered by the Barnes Center. On Wednesday, May 6, the Peer Educators Encouraging Healthy Relationships and Sexuality will talk about setting healthy boundaries.
Over the summer, students can continue to access resources, including the Sexual and Relationship Violence Response Team and the 24-hour support phone number.
Students can also visit the Wellness Portal and the Barnes Center website to see what opportunities are available in the summer.
Starting this Thursday, May 7, until Monday, Aug. 24, students are encouraged to explore the virtual Wellness Leadership Institute summer series workshops. Workshop topics highlight a variety of health and wellness topics.
