Framing well-being in a college campus setting

Abstract

This investigatory study sought to explore the range and variation of well-being initiatives on a select cross-section of college campuses across the United States and in Canada. This whitepaper seeks to highlight innovative practices that may inspire institutions to consider new ways of promoting well-being for both students and employees. In this whitepaper, we report findings from 10 participating higher education institutions across three major categories: student-serving programs, employee-serving programs, and hybrid programs. The qualitative data collected from key stakeholder interviews and focus groups were analyzed for trends between and across institutions. Importantly, the results of this study are intended to be hypothesis-generating as opposed to hypothesis-testing. In an effort to describe the state of the field with respect to both common and innovative practices the findings have generated additional questions for further research. Several themes emerged from this study: (1) Campuses have not adopted a universally-accepted definition of well-being; (2) While many institutions are using iterations of the wellness wheel and its various dimensions (e.g. physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, financial) to guide their efforts, there is not a dominant model for structuring or measuring well-being initiatives on campus; (3) There appears to be a systematic shift from use of the term “wellness” to “well-being”; (4) While many institutions are still utilizing traditional health education practices, there appears to be a movement toward more systemic, environmental approaches to well- being, including structural, organizational, and financial strategies, in addition to a range of policy initiatives; (5) There is a range of engagement in well-being initiatives, with significant variance based on institutional philosophy; and (6) Many institutions are designing well-being initiatives that address health disparities—particularly among underrepresented or marginalized populations.

Keywords:

• Employee health
• health disparities
• student well-being
• student wellness
• well-being
• wellness

Acknowledgments

The writing and investigation team wish to thank the American College Health Foundation (ACHF) Board of Directors and the Aetna Student Health team for their encouragement and enthusiastic support from initial conception to the execution of this project. We are deeply indebted to the interview and focus group participants who made this investigation possible and breathed life into this project by sharing their lived experiences. We are also greatly appreciative of our colleagues and partners from the ACHA, Aetna Student Health, CDC, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), who took time to review drafts of this whitepaper. Your candid and critical feedback helped to strengthen and sharpen the findings from this exploratory study, while providing good fodder for future research.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of, the United States.

Additional information

Funding

Funding and administrative support for this project was provided by the American College Health Foundation and Aetna Student Health.