Student Health Services launches new department

Students will soon notice more public health posters and flyers reminding them to get flu shots.

This school year, Penn’s Student Health Service created a new Campus Health Initiatives department, which will use education, outreach and research to promote the health of Penn students.

“Penn can be a stressful place to be, but stress is good because it propels us to do great things,” said Sharon McMullen, the program’s director who previously was the public health nurse for SHS. “However, sometimes it can be overwhelming. So we are thinking about how we can help students find balance.”

Programs under the new initiative include a bigger push for students to get flu vaccines and to engage in bike helmet safety.

This new department will collaborate with other departments and student groups to pass its messages along. “We are very interested in looking at students’ fitness, nutrition, sexual health and things as simple as sleep, and how all of these issues can really impact a student’s well-being,” McMullen said.

The initiative will also use online resources and other technology such as social media to reach out to more students, McMullen added.

SHS partners with many student groups across campus — the Student Health Advisory Board, the Penn Medical Emergency Response Team, the Undergraduate Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the Student Health Insurance Advisory Committee.

SHS has had the idea of creating an office devoted to public health for about 10 years, said SHS Director Evelyn Wiener. She has only had the time and resources to develop it for the past two years.

SHS recognized that coordinating its public health activities with the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health would help spread public health information on campus.

As a result, Campus Health Initiatives seeks “student input to help guide activities and student involvement to develop and implement programs,” Wiener said. “They are the primary focus of the work of SHS and a key target for these initiatives.”

In light of the nation’s recent attention to healthy lifestyles, SHS is continuously working on expanding public health and health promotion.

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