Student Supports
Academic advisors in your home department/school are available to assist with course planning and a variety of other needs.
weCONNECTu is a student mentorship program offered for students by students. Our upper-year mentors offer a variety of programs to assist first-year students in Health including workshops and review sessions. Students can also be matched with an upper-year mentor for one-on-one support and as a contact for questions.
Dean's Advisory Committee on Health and Well-being
In 2017, the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences (now Faculty of Health) established the Dean's Advisory Committee on Health and Well-being with a mandate to gather information about challenges, barriers, facilitators, and resources for supporting health and well-being.
The Advisory works toward the development of tangible recommendations and resources for supporting health and well-being among students, staff, and faculty from across the Faculty of Health.
What we do
- Review strategies for mental and physical health promotion within formal and informal Faculty activities.
- Review opportunities for creating a supportive and safe community.
- Support and promote services that help members of the Faculty of Health community prosper, such as student peer counselling in the Faculty (UW Mates), Campus Wellness, or the Employee and Family Assistance Program.
- Fund and publicize graduate student-led initiatives that might directly or indirectly affect health and well-being, on topics such as physical activity, health education or workshops, community building or social relationships, leisure and nutrition.
- Gather information about the status of health and well-being in the Faculty.
- Support events such as Thrive Week, mental health wellness days, and other initiatives focused on supporting health, well-being and engagement within the Faculty of Health community.
- Lead the Faculty’s initiatives to promote health and well-being, including coordination of activities with the University and external bodies (for example, the Okanagan Charter to promote student health).
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please email the committee.
Dimensions of Wellness
Wellness is a balance between nine interconnected dimensions, which is what we call the Dimensions of Wellness. Wellness goes beyond physical health to include an individual’s ability to identify and achieve goals, satisfy needs, and the ability to change and cope with the demands of our environment. Each dimension is equally important as the others, and we must pay attention to each one individually. If one dimension is out of balance, the others are affected.
- Physical Wellness
- Intellectual Wellness
- Emotional Wellness
- Relational Wellness
- Vocational Wellness
- Cultural Wellness
- Spiritual Wellness
- Financial Wellness
- Environmental Wellness
Memoirs of Wellness
Everyone navigates very individual experiences that impact their well-being. That said, we acknowledge that there is a need to normalize both negative and positive well-being journeys in an effort to de-stigmatize mental health, mental illness, and adversity in general. Through our Memoirs of Wellness, we want our community members to know they're not alone in their struggles! The goal of the Memoirs of Wellness initiative is to highlight the personal wellness journeys of our students, staff, and faculty!
If you would like to contribute your story to our Memoirs of Wellness, please connect with health.wellbeing@uwaterloo.ca. All stories are welcome and all stories matter!
Have Your Say
This initiative provides the opportunity for you to Have Your Say in how the Faculty of Health supports and enhances the health and well-being of all our students, staff, and faculty. Submit your thoughts and ideas for new activities, workshops, seminars, and resources that the Faculty of Health can offer or provide us with your feedback for how the Faculty of Health can improve your health and well-being. Please email health.wellbeing@uwaterloo.ca to submit any feedback you have.
Events
Check out all the upcoming Faculty of Health events.
Wellness Bingo
All members of the Faculty of Health are encouraged to download the monthly Wellness Bingo card and play along for a chance to win monthly prizes!
Review all the activities that are provided within the 24 boxes (the 25th box is a Free Space). Find a set of 5-boxes in any row, column, or diagonal sequence that you are able to complete throughout the month and set out to do them by the last day of that month. Each line you complete will earn you an entry for the prize.
All submissions must be made prior to 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the day before the draw by sending a picture to health.wellbeing@uwaterloo.ca. Once you submit your card, it will be reviewed and verified. All eligible submissions will be entered into the monthly draw.
Draw for May: June 1, 2024
Draw for April: May 1, 2024
Download your May 2024 Wellness Bing Card or email us for an accessible Bingo list.
Download your April 2024 Wellness Bingo Card or email us for an accessible Bingo list.
Training Opportunities on Campus
QPR - Question, Persuade, Refer
Training content:
- How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be having thoughts of suicide
- How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
- Common causes and warning signs
- How to get help for someone in crisis
safeTALK
Training content:
- Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss, or avoid the topic of suicide
- Identify people with thoughts of suicide
- Learn simple yet effective TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe
- Apply the TALK steps to connect a person with suicide thoughts to life-saving first aid resources
More Feet On The Ground (virtual or self guided online)
Training content:
- Comprehensive information about common mental health and addiction concerns
- Overview of signs/symptoms, treatment options, mental health stigma
- Facts, statistics, and stories of lived experience
- Campus and community resource information
- Opportunity to receive a certificate following successful completion of a brief on-line assessment of learning
See Mental health training opportunities for current offerings.
The Sanctuary
- The Sanctuary is a non-denominational space open to all members of the Faculty of Health to participate in prayer, mediation, or any other introspective practices, spiritual or otherwise. Located at BMH 3023, the sanctuary is available at all times and has a sliding meter to indicate if the space is in use.
- Our wellness space is equipped with yoga mats, prayer mats, prayer beads, salt lamps, adjustable lighting and a comfortable chair. We invite you to bring any of your own items into the space but please be advised that it is a public space that is not traditionally locked and materials may go missing. If any common use items are missing or if you have recommendations for how to improve the space, please contact health.wellbeing@uwaterloo.ca.