From the Provost's Desk: Keeping healthy through influenza season
15 November 2022
By Verna Yiu
Healthy Campuses + Community Wellness
At the University of Alberta, ours is a community of support that inspires the change makers, community builders, and society shapers who lead the solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Supporting the community at large starts with supporting the health and wellness of our students, faculty, and staff.
A Health-Promoting University
Living well allows us to inspire the communities that we serve. We lead by example, by embedding health and wellness initiatives into all that we do. As a member of the Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting University and Colleges, we aim to:
- To embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates.
- To lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
Healthy University Strategic Plan
Universities can have a significant impact on individual and community health through factors including environmental design, social opportunities, workplace culture, policies and procedures, curriculum design, and health services. With this in mind, the U of A has developed a Healthy University Strategic Plan (HUSP) to help coordinate our community's collective efforts to successfully support the health of our students, faculty, and staff.
Read the Healthy University Strategic PlanAreas of Focus
Mental Health
Like physical health, individual attributes, environmental and social conditions contribute to the mental health of an individual and there may be many dimensions of health (emotional, spiritual, intellectual) that may contribute to mental health.
Physical Health
Physical Health is a function of factors such as fitness, nutrition, use of drugs or alcohol, access to medical care, and quality of sleep. Developing an environment where healthy choices are the easy choices can contribute to the overall physical health of a population.
Social Health
To obtain and maintain social health, individuals need connection with other people and with the social systems that affect their lives. Social health demands equity, inclusion, participation in decision-making processes, and opportunities for involvement in the functions of the society.
Health and Wellness Supports + Resources
Student Resources + Supports
Learn more about the services and resources tailored to help meet the needs of our students.
Faculty & Staff Resources + Supports
Learn more about the services and resources tailored to help meet the needs of our staff.
Campus & Community Recreation
Learn about the opportunities that encourage physical wellness, including intramurals, fitness classes, nutrition and wellbeing programming, and more!
The Steadward Centre for Personal & Physical Achievement
Learn about the Adapted Physical Activity and Parasport services, research, and learning opportunities available to the U of A's students, faculty, and staff.
Health and Wellness Initiatives
Efforts to support our health and wellness must be made daily, and that’s why the U of A has not only adopted health and wellness into our programming, research, and teaching, but we’ve also embedded it within the policies and procedures that support our students, faculty and staff. Examples of our health and wellness initiatives from the Healthy University Strategic Plan (HUSP) include the following:
Community Engagement + Wellness
Learn more about the programming available for students to engage in conversations around topics, such as days of action, mental health, alcohol use and more.
COVID-19 Information
Learn more about the university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and see the latest information to help keep our community safe.
Public Health Response Team
Learn more about the work of the Public Health Response Team and the types of situations that they support.
Sexual Violence Information + Resources
Learn more about the programming available for students to engage in conversations around topics like days of action, mental health, alcohol use, and more.
Suicide Prevention Framework
Learn more about the university’s five-part framework to build the capacity and capability for suicide prevention at the U of A.
