Bruin Health Week offers lifestyle tips to students

Last year, when Rupa Lalchandani heard about the human papillomavirus vaccination, she was shocked at how many of her friends knew about the vaccination but hadn’t gotten it.

This disparity between knowledge and action is one of the reasons the undergraduate student government Student Welfare Commission and other health organizations on campus will be sharing information about such health issues during Bruin Health Week.

“It kind of hit me very hard,” said Lalchandani, chief of staff of the Student Welfare Commission. “Issues like (the HPV vaccination) need to be addressed on campus.”

Bruin Health Week events, which kick off tomorrow, are aimed to educate students about how to live a healthier lifestyle and how to use campus resources effectively, said Jonathan Pham, student welfare commissioner.

“We want to teach the little things students can do to improve their healthy lifestyles,” Pham said.

To kick off the week, students can “Chillax to the Max” with massages, art projects, yoga demonstrations and music performances at DeNeve Plaza.

Taleen Dersaroian, codirector of the Student Health Advocate program, said this event is meant to help college students learn how to relax.

“Mental health is essential to college students. We are so busy, we need to take time out of our day to relax,” she said. “We want students to know that there are organizations who can help them do this.”

Some of these organizations include the Wooden Center, which offers yoga classes, and the Ashe Center, which offers chair massages.

For Dersaroian, last quarter was a very stressful one. She said the importance of participating in relaxing activities at this time was crucial, and she personally used painting with the kindergartners she teaches as an outlet and way to relax.

“Painting was calming, and it got my mind off of things,” she said. “You need distractions from school.”

On Wednesday, students can participate in the Bruin Health Symposium, which brings health-related campus resources together.

In the Court of Sciences, various health groups on campus will be giving out information.

“It’s an opportunity for students to see what health groups are on campus, and it’s a chance for the health groups to recruit,” said Kim Hayashi, director of health, nutrition and fitness in the Student Welfare Commission.

In Bruin Plaza, students can participate in various health-related activities such as a “Health is Right” game show.

The aim of this day is to teach students healthy living, Hayashi said.

On Thursday, students will be able to learn about various diseases in the world and how they can help make a difference.

Students will also be able to view an art display on world health that will offer information about a number of epidemics, including malaria and AIDS.

“We want to increase awareness in the U.S. because we don’t usually see these epidemics that play such a big part in other countries, in rural countries,” said Tayeba Maktabi, director of the multicultural awareness committee in the Student Welfare Commission. “We hope students can help overcome and eradicate these epidemics from the world.”

On Friday, students can learn more about “healthy sexuality” and get information about birth control, specific sexual health problems and disease prevention and treatment.

“We felt that a lot of the sexual health issues aren’t really vocalized at school,” Lalchandani said. “It’s really important to be aware of issues that affect us such as gender health issues, including breast cancer and prostate cancer.”

Bruin Health Week will end with the ninth annual Run/Walk fundraiser on Sunday.

Amanda Maddahi, Run/Walk codirector, said she is expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people to attend this year, making this event the biggest one yet.

Pham said the events of the week will help student groups collaborate with each other and create a larger network for them.

“Lots of student groups had health fairs on campus, but individual ones,” Pham said. “We hope this week helps them collaborate together to impact the campus.”

Since the Student Health Advocate program was downsized and revamped this year due to budget cuts, Pham said he hopes this week can help show students alternative ways to obtain services once offered by that program, such as providing medication and other supplies.

“We want students to be prepared,” Pham said.

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