A Year in Review: Summary of Activities for the 2023-24 Peer Wellness Education Program at Ontario Tech University

Abstract

The Peer Wellness Education Program provides opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in the field of health promotion, improve their skills, meet other students, and learn health tips that can be used in their own lives. A team of 15 students (10 students in the Fall semester and 14 students in the Winter semester) worked together to implement various social marketing campaigns and distribute health promotion resources during the 2023-24 academic year. Throughout the year, team members contributed almost 500 hours to implement various display booths, health promotion events, and workshops organised by the Peer Wellness Education Program and Ontario Tech Health Promotion. The Peer Wellness Education team volunteered at over 50 health promoting events, interacted with over 2450 students, and disseminated over 3,400 health promotion resources. The team also created social media posts on Instagram to promote the program, created blog posts for Ridgeback Student Voices, and created two new display boards during this time. A quarter of students could directly name the Peer Wellness Education team or Ontario Tech Health Promotion as a program or service on campus without prompting during intercept interviews, and the majority of surveyed students had seen or heard about a health promotion activity. After volunteering with the Peer Wellness Education team, team members reported increases in knowledge of health promotion concepts, and development of skills related to engaging students in conversations about their health and creating informative, appealing health education resources. The Peer Wellness Education Program has been a success and will use the momentum achieved over the past year to continue promoting health on campus in the 2024-25 academic year. Over the next year, the team will increase the number of hosted events, student interactions, and resources disseminated, and will increase their presence at the Downtown Campus.