Campus Life

Health Promotion and Wellness seeks applicants for HealthWorks Peer Educators

Penn State students can apply to be a HealthWorks Peer Educator by Friday, Feb. 28. Credit: Chelsea West / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State students who have a passion for health and wellness are invited to apply to join HealthWorks, a student peer education and outreach program within the Student Affairs unit Health Promotion and Wellness. Applications for the 2020-21 academic year are being accepted now through Friday, Feb. 28.

The HealthWorks program offers student volunteers two unique opportunities to share and promote health information on campus including one-on-one wellness services for students along with outreach activities and education workshops. Wellness services offered include educational sessions on healthy relationships, nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress. Outreach and Promotion include facilitating workshops and tabling events for sexual health, sleep, stress and nutrition.

Current HealthWorks Peer Educator Chloe Markovich encourages students to apply. 

“HealthWorks serves as a great free resource for Penn State students to either receive valuable wellness services or gain experience in health promotion and build their professional network," said Markovich. "I always enjoy engaging with student organizations, sports teams, and clubs and having meaningful conversations about how we, as students, can best take care of ourselves on all levels of health including physical, emotional and social.” 

HealthWorks is a three-semester commitment, which includes one semester of training and two semesters of service. Training for the program requires the completion of a three-credit course, BBH 324, offered through the Department of Biobehavioral Health. Topics covered in the course range within several health promotion theories, strategies and health issues that are relevant to the college population, including sexual health, nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress. During the semester, weekly meetings will be held, and peer educators participate in programming and outreach activities. 

HealthWorks Peer Educator Jesse Cruise’s experience in the program “has always been positive," he said. In the training course he learned information that helped him strive towards wellness in his own life, and the information learned helped him talk to others about attaining their wellness goals. Being a HealthWorks peer educator means benefiting the Penn State community in a unique way. 

“Many students don’t know about all the free resources that Penn State offers, so they are always amazed by the information shared in sessions.” Cruise said.  

HealthWorks activities include health education workshops, HIV test counseling, and health promotion campaigns to raise awareness about topics like stress reduction, sustainability and body image. Ongoing projects include healthy cooking videos, Healthy Penn State blog posts, running the social media platforms, and more.

For more on the HealthWorks program or to apply, visit the HealthWorks webpage.

 

Last Updated February 28, 2020