Public Health and Wellbeing oversees another semester of online self-help programs

Public Health and Wellbeing, formerly Campus Health, is overseeing another semester of its “Sleep Well” and “Sex Well” initiatives. 

Students have accessed various resources to expand their sleep and sexual health knowledge through a multitude of workshops and programs this semester. Each initiative has a multi-week curriculum with a defined start and stop date that has aided many students since their inception.

Sleep Well hosts the seven-week “Refresh” program. Under Sex Well, students can enroll in a six-week “Penn’s Declassified Sex Survival Guide” program. 

The “Refresh” program originated at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and was created for students to improve their sleep and overall well-being. The program was brought to Penn in 2018 and has since served over 2,500 students. 

Public Health and Wellbeing Health Educator Lauren Cordova told The Daily Pennsylvanian that “Declassified” was designed to model the success of “Refresh” with a focus on sex and sexual health instead. “Declassified” was first implemented at Penn in spring 2020.

“A lot of times when people think of sexual health, they think of [sexually transmitted infections], contraceptions, and barrier methods,” Cordova said. “We do cover all of that because it's really important, but we also cover communication.”

The “Declassified” curriculum covers the sexual health basics including gender, anatomy, sexuality. It also includes lessons on sexual activity, healthy relationships, sex in the digital space, and lube.

“It really casts a wide net to show a lot of different things and talk about a lot of different aspects that maybe aren’t traditionally in sexual health education,” Cordova said.

Cordova said the “Declassified” curriculum was created with all types of students in mind, regardless of the extent of their background with sexual health education. She added that there is still a lot to learn whether students have completed a comprehensive education in the past or not.

Over the course of the academic year, Public Health and Wellbeing will have served hundreds of students through its “Refresh” and “Declassified” cohorts. Last semester, over 450 students were in the Sleep Well initiative’s “Refresh” cohort, and around 180 students were enrolled in its sexual health counterpart, the Sex Well initiative’s “Declassified” cohort. The number of students enrolled in spring 2022 has not been released.

Students can also register for a variety of health education workshops through Wellness at Penn's request form. Under the “Eat Well” initiative, students can sign up for “Nutrition Jeopardy!” or “Nutrition Quizzo.” 

If students missed the deadline to register for Sleep Well’s seven-week guided “Refresh” cohort, they can still request to host a workshop for “Sleep Jeopardy!” or “Sleep Quizzo.” Public Health and Wellbeing also hosts workshops on health insurance, COVID-19, vaping, and alcohol and drug harm reduction strategies.

Associate Director of Public Health and Wellbeing Rebecca Huxta told the DP that Public Health and Wellbeing recently hired a new health educator with a focus on alcohol and drug abuse prevention to offer new workshops to students. 

Health Educator Trainor Macrone, who runs workshops centered around alcohol and other drugs, focused on possible harm reduction strategies that anyone can exercise. The program also includes education on recognizing the standard drink size, identifying signs of alcohol poisoning, and understanding when to call MERT, Penn’s student-run Medical Emergency Response Team.