Wellness Programs
Our team offers a variety of programs. Check out our Programs page for our full programs listing!
Information Box Group
Workshops and Training
Our Health Promotion Team also provides a number of trainings on campus, including:
- Mental health 101
- safeTALK (suicide alertness)
- Self-care and community care
- Healthy relationships
- Responsible drinking and cannabis use
- Other related wellness topics
If you are interested in setting up a workshop for your club, event, or group, please contact us at wellness@mcmaster.ca.
Wellness Lounge
The lounge space located in the PGCLL 201 is open for all students and is a place to relax, enjoy tea, read, pick up wellness resources, study, and chat with friends. Come by to ask staff and Wellness Outreach volunteers about our wellness resources, programs, and services.
In this space, you’ll find free tea, a Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lightbox, an origami station, a colouring corner, and lots of campus and community informational pamphlets.
Peer Educator Program
With support from the Wellness Educators, volunteer as a Peer Educator or a Team Lead on one of our Wellness Outreach Teams to promote student wellness.
The Peer Educator program is a student-run health promotion initiative for returning undergraduate and graduate students overseen by the Student Wellness Centre’s Education team. Each year, Peer Educators develop and implement proactive health-related interventions to enhance campus well-being on one of six Wellness Outreach Teams: Active Living, Food Literacy, Mental Health, Sexual Health, Substance Use, and Graduate Wellness.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Peer Educators are responsible for delivering workshops, providing evidence-based health information, and promoting wellness-related resources available on and off campus. Accordingly, students on our Wellness Outreach Teams are ambitious, proactive, and driven toward making a difference on campus.
Wellness Outreach Teams are led by Team Leads, returning Peer Educators who have demonstrated significant contribution to their teams. They have a personal commitment to improving their own wellness and advocating for the wellness of others.
Click on the links below for more details.
Learn More About Our Teams
The Active Living team aims to promote movement and activity in an accessible manner amongst all McMaster students, given the incredible scientific support a more active lifestyle has on one’s mental health.
Topics and activities include:
- Physical literacy
- Incorporating activity into student life
- Creating fun and social activities for students to get active
- Exam ‘brain breaks’ with #MacMoves
- Walks through Cootes Paradise through our Walk in Nature Days program
The Food Literacy team aims to increase students’ knowledge of food and nutrition and equip them with the skills needed to prepare food while considering taste, health, culture, and affordability.
Topics and activities include:
- Food skills
- Food security
- Farmer’s Market tours
- Gardening activities
- Cooking sessions through our Food for Thought program
The Mental Health team works to increase students’ knowledge of the many factors that contribute to their own state of mental wellness.
Topics and activities include:
- Resilience
- Self-care
- Building caring and supportive communities
- Stigma reduction
The Sexual Health is focused on educating the McMaster community about the different aspects of sexual health, and what it means to promote a sex-positive environment.
Topics and activities include:
- Healthy relationships
- HIV and STI prevention and testing
- Consent
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Gender and sexuality
- Reproductive rights
The Substance Use team uses a harm reduction lens to reduce the social, psychological, and biological harms associated with substances like alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco.
Topics and activities include:
- Alcohol, cannabis, and vaping education
- Party kit-making
- Smoke-free campus cigarette butt litter audits
- Normalizing the choice to not use substances
Graduate Wellness
Caring Communities Network
Extra-curricular activities are where some folks find their sense of community and access to support networks and resources. The Caring Communities Network (CCN) recognizes this and aims to use these activities to connect students with wellness resources in more efficient ways.
Contact the Caring Communities Network Program Coordinator for more details!
The CCN (Caring Communities Network) exists to build the capacity of students to support and enhance student wellbeing. The purpose of the network is to:
- Build connections for sharing best practices across student communities
- Provide better support for student leaders who are already assuming some or many of these responsibilities in their respective units
- Facilitate conversations about the proactive practices student communities can employ to enhance the wellbeing of students in their communities
Clubs, communities, or departments that choose to participate will have a designated Wellbeing Liaison (see below) whose duty is to orient student leaders to existing wellness programs and services and connect with other Wellbeing Liaisons to facilitate conversations on how to best support leadership team in support student wellbeing. The Wellbeing Liaison may be a new role within the club’s executive team, or the duties of a Wellness Liaison may be adopted by someone on the team with a similar role.
Click here for a complete summary of the Caring Communities Network.
CCN 101
Each group that joins the Caring Communities Network will designate a group member as a Wellbeing Liaison. Liaisons are responsible for helping to connect students in their communities to initiatives related to student health and wellness.
This role also serves as a local resource, providing support for all members in a community who may have questions or need assistance accessing services and resources. Student communities may decide to create a new role within their executive structure or decide to adapt an already existing role, i.e. Club Chaplain, VP Social, etc.
Orientation and Support
Orientation will be offered in a three-hour session in September, with additional optional training offered throughout the year (e.g. safeTALK, Peer Support 101). The orientation will provide information on wellness programs and resources at McMaster and use case studies to explore best practices in supporting students’ wellbeing while respecting boundaries within one’s role. Regular email updates will be sent to Liaisons to provide information on new tools, resources and services for students. Back-up support, including consultation with mental health professionals, will be identified for those assuming the Wellbeing Liaison role to ensure they are adequately resourced. Liaisons are provided with a toolkit of resources that include information on campus resources and procedures. Regular Community of Practice meetings will allow Liaisons to connect with peers across campus and share practices and resources for their role.
Time Commitment and Length of Term
- 2-4 hours per month, depending on needs of your club
- 3 hour program orientation in September
- Community of Practice Meetings: 3 hours (1.5 hours per term)
- End of year program review meeting: 1.5 hours at beginning of April
- Additional Training (optional)
This program will recognize and enhance the work being done to promote wellness in your community. This program provides the opportunity to:
- Receive free health and wellness based training
- Collaborate with other groups
- Share resources and ideas
- Promote your health and wellness initiatives to individuals and groups who share your goals or may benefit from your programming
- Take on a leadership role within the McMaster community
If you’re interested in being a Wellbeing Liaison, you can apply directly through your club of interest. Talk to the executive members of the club to see if they have an opening for this position. If not, feel free to contact either the Student Wellness Centre or MSU to start up a new wellness liaison position (see link to form below)
As a club, to become a part of the Caring Communities Network, determine who will act as your Wellness Liaison and fill out this form. Please register promptly, as the current program capacity is limited to forty groups. Email the CCN Project Coordinator at ccnpc@msu.mcmaster.ca for further information.
National College Health Assessment (NCHA)
Campaigns
Information Box Group
Spook Sacks
Spook Sacks is an event run on campus and associated campaign to promote harm reduction when using substances like alcohol or cannabis.
Pee4Pizza
Pee4Pizza is a free, confidential STI testing day on campus run annually with Hamilton Public Health and campaign to inform students about STI testing.
Ways to Wellness
The Ways to Wellness campaign outlines some ways to support your mental health and wellbeing among the chaos of student life. Each person’s experience of mental health is unique. Each person’s journey has its own start, path, and destination, but if there is one thing in common, it is that we can create a campus that is supportive, responsive and connected.
Responsible Drinking & Substance Use
The Responsible Drinking and Substance Use campaign educates students on various strategies that encourage safe, responsible drinking habits. It is important that students feel empowered to make informed choices about drinking, and be made aware of available resources for substance use-related concerns.
Consent
The Consent campaign is there to help people identify what consent does and does not look like. It is important that students are knowledgeable in this key area of sexual health, and be made aware of available resources for sexual violence-related concerns.
Welcome Week Strategic Priorities
Welcome Week is an exciting time! To get the most out of your experience, it’s important to prioritize your wellbeing. Learn more about wellness information related to McMaster’s Strategic Priorities.