If you are interested in having the WesWELL staff member or a Peer Health Advocate present a health education workshop for your group or living area, it’s simple to request it.
Just go to www.wesleyan.edu/weswell and click on Request a Program.
The online form will ask you for all the information we need to speed along scheduling your program request and help us both avoid exchanging endless rounds of emails or voice-mails. It’s that simple!
The WesWELL Resource Library, located in Room 204 of the Davison Health Center, houses a collection of books, journals, periodicals, brochures, and videos on various health and wellness issues. Our stock of free safer sex supplies is also located in the same room.
Many students access the Resource Library for personal information, research for a project, or to help a friend or family member. Residence Life student staff may want to pick up ready-made “Bulletin Boards in a Bag”, the well-known brown paper “condom bags”, or even health-oriented posters for bulletin boards. A copier is available for making small quantities of copies of materials for personal use or for posting in your living area.
To search our online catalog of our books and videos, click here. Or from the main page of the Olin Library website, click on Departmental Collections, then WesWELL.
The Library is open the same hours as Health Services, although WesWELL staff members are typically not present during evening and weekend hours. If you have a question, contact the staff at 860.685.2466 or by email at weswell@wesleyan.edu.
Click on FYI in the Categories list to view other informational posts about WesWELL’s services and offerings.
The Davison Health Center, pictured above during a snowy March day, is home to three separate but related health offices. Functioning as three parts of a whole, these offices offer “one stop shopping” for the health needs of Wesleyan students. All three offices are located in the Davison Health Center, 327 High Street, adjacent to the CFA Theater and Malcolm X House.
The three offices are:
WesWELL, the Office of Health Education focuses on prevention education on health issues, including this blog. You are likely to meet our health educator, Lisa Currie, and the Peer Health Advocates, a student peer education group, in your residential living area or elsewhere on campus offering workshops and discussions on a variety of health issues. Look for our annual Sexual Health Expo each spring, too! We also offer non-credit classes in yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and more. You are also welcome to drop in the office to visit our Resource Library, pick up free safer sex supplies, or ask a question to help yourself or a friend. The office is located on the second floor of the Davison Health Center.
Web www.wesleyan.edu/weswell
Phone 860.685.2466
Email weswell@wesleyan.edu or lcurrie@wesleyan.edu
Health Services provides confidential medical care for illness, injury, sexual health, travel consults, allergy, and more. All visits are included in your Wesleyan student fees, though there can be charges for lab tests and such. Led by medical director Dr. Davis Smith, and administrative director Joyce Walter, the large staff of Health Services can serve as your primary care provider while you are at Wesleyan and also work with your doctor at home as needed. Appointments are strongly encouraged, though walk-ins for urgent needs will be accommodated. Call Health Services at 860.685.2470 for an appointment or with your questions.
Web: www.wesleyan.edu/healthservices
Phone: 860.685.2470
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:00am to 7:00pm; Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm; Saturday, 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Note: An on-call physician is available after hours when classes are in session by calling 860.685.2470 and selecting option 2.
The Office of Behavioral Health for Students (OBHS) provides confidential mental and emotional health support in individual and group settings. The office exists expressly to help Wesleyan students (undergraduate and graduate) to deal effectively with emotional, personal, interpersonal and situational issues which cause unhappiness, frustration and/or disruption to their lives. Call 860.685.2910 for an appointment.
Web: www.wesleyan.edu/obhs
Phone: 860.685.2910
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 4:30pm
Note: An on-call therapist is available after hours when classes are in session by calling 860.685.2910 and following the prompts.
Over the course of the semester, we’ll be creating a series of FYI posts. They will highlight various services and resources available through WesWELL, and to a lesser extent, through Health Services and the Office of Behavioral Health. Look for the first one shortly!
If you have a suggestion for something yo’ud like to know more about (or a question that you don’t want to leave in the comments), don’t hesitate to contact Lisa Currie, Director of Health Education at lcurrie@wesleyan.edu or 860.685.2466.
Medical News Today offers a great video that reviews your testing options for HIV:
Click here: Fast and Easy HIV Testing
Health Services offers testing services for Wesleyan students at low and reasonable costs.
From Scientific American…
Like athletes or musicians, people who practice meditation can enhance their ability to concentrate—or even lower their blood pressure. They can also cultivate compassion, according to a new study. Specifically, concentrating on the loving kindness one feels toward one’s family (and expanding that to include strangers) physically affects brain regions that play a role in empathy.“There is such a thing as expertise when it comes to complex emotions or emotional skills, such as the one of cultivating benevolence,” says Antoine Lutz, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who led the study. “That raises the possibility that you can train someone to cultivate this positive emotion.”
WesWELL offers meditation classes each semester for Wesleyan students and other campus community members. Look for the new schedule in late August 2008.
From ScienceDaily…
About 40 million Americans suffer from “hay fever,” a disease that allergists prefer to call “allergic rhinitis,” because HAY is not to blame and FEVER is rarely a symptom.
So what is causing the stuffy runny nose, the watery itchy eyes, the sneezing, wheezing and cough, and why are heavy rains and melting snow making symptoms worse?
“There are dozens of substances that potentially can cause trouble in those of us who are susceptible to allergies, but trees are usually the first on the scene during spring allergy season,” said Jay M. Portnoy, M.D., president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and chief, section of allergy, asthma & immunology at Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. “Rain can provide some initial relief by reducing tree pollen counts, but it also can spur the growth of grass and weeds later in the spring and in early summer, producing more pollen.”
Health Services offers an allergy clinic for Wesleyan students who require allergy shots. Call 860.685.2470 for your appointment.
From MayoClinic.com…
Q: Can men get HPV? If so, what are the health risks associated with HPV in men?
A: Yes, men can become infected with human papillomavirus (HPV). In fact, most sexually active adults — both men and women — will acquire HPV at some time in their lives.
Men with healthy immune systems rarely develop HPV-related health problems. However, genital HPV infection is one cause of penis (penile) cancer. It’s also associated with cancer of the anus and other genital cancers. These cancers are most common in males with HIV infection. In addition, HPV has been linked to oropharyngeal cancer. The oropharynx is the part of the throat just behind the mouth.
Genital HPV spreads through sexual contact. Both men and women can pass it to their partners. Certain types of HPV cause genital warts, but the virus usually causes no signs or symptoms. One way to prevent HPV infection is to avoid direct contact with the virus. Using a condom every time you have sex can significantly reduce your risk of contracting HPV.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine (Gardasil) that offers protection from the most dangerous types of HPV, but it’s currently available only to girls and women. Studies are under way to test if the HPV vaccine is also safe for men, and whether it is effective at protecting against genital warts and certain penile and anal cancers.
Health Services offers Gardasil to female Wesleyan students. Call 860.685.2470 to schedule your appointment and to inquire about cost.
The Health Education Prize is awarded annually by WesWELL to the graduating Wesleyan Univesity senior who best exemplifies the office’s mission:
It is the mission of WesWELL, the Office of Health Education to promote mindfulness and responsibility in all areas of health and wellness in order to prevent disease, injury and other health problems. We encourage good health of mind, body and spirit by helping members of the Wesleyan community, particularly students, connect with resources and gain knowledge that will aid in the enhancement of their well-being, encourage self-discovery, and support their intellectual proficiency and academic success.
The student who is chosen for this prize will have demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing health promotion efforts at Wesleyan, has sought to improve the health and well-being of the Wesleyan community, and served as a positive role model to their peers at Wesleyan and beyond. Nominees must be graduating in the current academic year (either December or May). The recipient is awarded a $100.00 by WesWELL.
Nominate a deserving Wesleyan senior here by April 1.
“Sex and the City” may have cemented shoe shopping as both urban sport and retail therapy, but it did little to address the basics of shopping for shoes in a way that helps the health of your foot.
The Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers this advice for shoe shopping:
The foundation for preventing corns and calluses is properly fitting shoes. Select what’s best by:
To read back issues of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter and other health periodicals, stop by the WesWELL Resource Library in Davison Health Center, Room 204.
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