By Marion Wise
Daily Bruin Contributor
This spring, educators of the Student Health Advocate class are
using a new curriculum to help SHAs better understand why students
face such mental health issues as homesickness and stress.
More so than in previous years, advisors are stressing the
ability of SHAs to aid students through peer counseling and medical
assistance. Also, SHAs are providing more programs, such as
nutrition fairs, to raise awareness about maintaining a healthy
lifestyle.
“We can always be better. We need to understand that
students’ needs change and that we need to be
responsive,” said Pam Viele, director of Health Education at
the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, which oversees
the SHA program.
Since 1980, Viele has been a lecturer for the peer counselor
class students must pass the spring quarter before they become a
SHA.
Viele helped change this spring’s curriculum for SHAs in
training to cater more to students’ current needs.
SHAs are student volunteers who either live among and aid
students in the residence halls or who work at the Ashe Center.
Those who live on campus provide residents with free
over-the-counter medicine, first-aid supplies, counseling and
referrals to campus resources.
Xiao Cai, a first-year biochemistry student training to be a
SHA, said in the first weeks of class, the course has addressed
issues relevant to first-year college students.
“It’s pretty good because it covers a lot of aspects
of what students go through here,” Cai said.
Changes in course material originated from data collected at the
end of 1999, which showed that students face unique challenges at
each point in their college experience, Viele said.
For example, students starting college are worried about leaving
their families and taking university-level classes, while
graduating seniors have concerns about entering the professional
world.
This year, Viele decided to address issues students face by
incorporating the developmental theory in course teachings. The
theory discusses differences in the individualistic and
collectivist views of life, which are often shaped by one’s
upbringing.
Under the individualistic view, frequently taught in the United
States, people focus on their personal relations with the world.
The collectivist view, more commonly expressed in Eastern nations,
emphasizes one’s relationships with others.
According to Viele, when students start college and interact
with others who hold opposing views, they often encounter
interpersonal or identity problems.
“In a setting like UCLA, you have people who are raised as
very strong adherents to one or the other,” Viele said.
“We’re trying to expand advocates’ understanding
of the world views and how they might be expressed in (students)
trying to establish their own identity.”
In her first year as peer programs coordinator for the Ashe
Center, Jennifer Stripe pushed for more programs where students
could recognize SHAs as peers they can visit any time, not just
when they are sick.
“The whole idea behind changes in the program is that SHAs
are equipped to do so much more. They are not just the
pseudo-doctor,” Stripe said. “It came from realizing
that they are great resources.”
The program has expanded significantly in recent years.
According to Stripe, more than 200 students applied this year for
about 90 positions. Five years ago, the program only had 40
SHAs.
SHAs are taught to act as a link between students and the Ashe
Center, and to refer students to Ashe or other resources such as
Student Psychological Services, which offers free professional
counseling to students.
“The overriding goal is helping students to optimize the
quality of their lives,” Stripe said. “SHAs listen.
They give feedback and they help you find resources.”
In addition to expanding their counseling and medical services,
SHAs hope to offer more programs next year.
“I think students are more aware that we can do more than
give out band-aids,” said Khrizna Belardo, a third-year
physiological science student and sub-group coordinator for Hedrick
SHAs.
During winter quarter, SHAs held a program titled “Healthy
on the Hill,” which brought visibility to the SHA program,
Belardo said. For the event, which was held at the Rieber
basketball courts, SHAs made nutritionists and TaeBo instructors
available to students.
Next year, Belardo said, she hopes to help expand the
group’s assistance with immunizations and to host a health
fair.
“As far as next year is concerned, we’re going to do
a lot more big programs,” she said. “I think
we’re going to continue to be visible as health
educators.”