University Wellness Plan Paper Example

Introduction

The University of the Incarnate Word is a private college located in the San Antonio founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity, initially serving mostly the Hispanic interests in the U.S. The university offers a few wellness services among them cardiovascular and aerobic exercises in their designed room, strength training and weight lifting programs, group exercises, racquetball, and basketball training among other such wellness programs. The sports in the university are divided among the staff and students where the students are eligible to participate in the club activities while the staff members are able to compete in intermural sports. The university also includes the local community in their wellness programs by allowing them to take place in some of the activities, offering membership opportunities and a chance to participate in the activities such as the various sports offered by the institution. In the study, the various wellness plans for the staff and students as well as the community were studied at a great length addressing the methods of improving wellness practices more efficiently.

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The importance of observing wellness in schools and higher learning institutions and in an institutional setting cannot be overstated. It is necessary for the involved individuals to balance academic and extracurricular activities to ensure that an effective learning and working process continues in the institution while giving them adequate time to refresh their minds. The wellness activities would ensure that the students and staff as well as the local communities invited to participate get to bond as they engage in the same activities, easing tensions that may exist in the working and learning environment. These activities also enhance the familiarity of the involved individuals with the different cultures that exist in the institution, therefore bringing harmony and understanding among the people especially where there is a cultural mix. Previous research shows that a balance between learning and the wellness of the students lead to an improved performance as it caters for the individual's mental as well as physical well-being (Choi, Lee, Kang, Ha & Kim, 2015).

Wellness for Faculty and Staff

Occupational Wellness

In addressing a wellness plan, there are six dimensions we ought to look at. The first includes occupational dimensions which looks at the personal satisfaction of the students and staff in their careers while maintaining a balance with their personal lives. Occupational wellness programs help in reducing stress in the workplace and thus improving service delivery and the overall success in everyday events, ensuring the delivery of quality education at the institution. To address occupational wellness, it is necessary to develop skills that are functional and transferable. This is possible by engaging in structured involvement opportunities. At the moment the institution offers counseling and psychological services to cater to the occupational wellness of the staff and students. Some of the other programs that could be implemented are as below.

Initiative 1: Meditation Activities

Meditation activities like yoga are good for relaxing the mind after long and busy days in the faculty and work. The faculty could introduce them to assist their staff and members to bond and interact during the sessions to get to know each other's lives more intimately other than officially or work personalities. The faculty could form such groups of willing participants in 10-20 individuals. The activities could commence on certain days when the faculty is not too busy in the afternoons from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., once or twice a week. Registration will be free and members invited on an all invite basis. Incentives such as free water would help in attracting members, especially on hot days. A professional instructor would also be hired by the faculty to make the activity more lively and active. Building such a culture will help in creating a better working and learning environment.

Physical Wellness Dimension

Physical wellness is the second and one of the most important in ensuring that the work and learning environment is efficiently running and productivity in service delivery is maximized. Physical health is the top driving force in any working or learning environment. Currently, the institution offers sports and other exercises to improve physical wellness but mostly is designed and adopted by the student population. To improve physical wellness in the faculty and among the staff, the institution could adopt and add up a few strategies like those described below.

Initiative 1: Smoking Cessation Programs

Smoking is a common vice among our population today, and statistics place stress among the top triggers to smoking. Smoking is no doubt one of the leading destroyers of physical health, and the harm caused by the vice sometimes is irreversible. Previous research has indicated that employees who are encouraged in their workplace to quit the vice stand a high chance of successfully quitting the habit. Research also indicates that people with such habits very rarely visit guidance and counseling (Jones, Molitor & Reif, 2018). Aside from guiding and counseling sessions, the institution could organize for programs that aim to assist smokers in the faculty to quit. The enlisting of lifestyle coaches for the faculty and giving the affected individuals support and pharmaceutical aid to assist in the healing process may help improve the productivity in the company. A smoking cessation club will be beneficial for the whole process. The club will be registered by the faculty and members notified and invited to the club. Any affected member that joins will then receive the services of the lifestyle coach at the expense of the faculty as well as support from the other members in the club. The club will be allocated a special place of residence in the allowed to meet regularly for at least an hour any day during working days. This could potentially encourage smokers who lack the confidence to seek such services to join and be active, leading to realization in the club's goals. Successful members will also be awarded incentives and recognition for their efforts to encourage others to follow suit.

Initiative 2: Healthy Office Snacks

The policy of the university includes offering snacks and break time tea to the faculty staff. Those snacks include some foods that may be considered fatty and sugary and as they are at the individual's disposal to decide which of them they intend to be served, some end up with spiraling weights and messed up energy levels. As a result, some of the staff and faculty members find themselves dealing with conditions such as obesity and other related diseases especially considering the long office hours spent every week and with little or no exercise to some. Adopting a strategy of only providing healthy snacks at the office would go a long way in addressing such issues as obesity and other associated problems. Healthy snacks in the office have been known to improve weight control and improve energy levels in the workplace.

Emotional Dimension

The emotional balance between work, school and personal life can be so complicated sometimes. The stresses in the working environment could overburden other people, especially the kinds with addictive personalities and other vulnerable individuals. For this reason, it is important that the emotional needs of the faculty members, as well as the staff, are addressed to realize a conducive and productive environment.

Initiative 1: Online Support Groups

People especially men have been found to be hard and reluctant in looking for help and counseling for their problems, especially when emotional needs are concerned. The problem might arise from the individual's need for privacy when it comes to sensitive and personal lives. Online platforms offer an anonymity and privacy that cannot be achieved by the regular conventional means. Setting up an online platform that offers such counseling and support services could be the solution of the existing problem. In the faculty, a professional and qualified individual that could address the emotional needs of the staff and other members of the faculty will help a lot in guiding their member in their emotional needs so as to be effective in their work and personal lives as well. The administrators will simply set up an online platform where they can interact with the members at any given time whether they are in college or elsewhere, which will give them the desired privacy and convenience. The members could be offered free membership for the members willing to register as well as free face to face services and meeting with the professional whenever they need. This would give them confidence in the system and encourage them to seek help when they need any emotional guidance. The costs for running such programs could be high but ultimately, the college will benefit from increased productivity due to the improved emotional conditions of their staff and members. Research has also shown that the perception such a strategy elicits in their subjects make them feel like part of the system and thus more dedicated to their cause and responsibilities for the associated institution, leading to an increase in productivity (Choi, Lee, Kang, Ha & Kim, 2015).

2. Use of Motivational Quotes

Staff and members of the faculty could also do with motivational quotes installed and portrayed in strategic places where they are accessible to everyone and touch on their personal lives encouraging them about the daily hustles and life in general. This strategy has been found to garner and instills inspiration on the subjects in a manner that may be difficult to achieve through means such as face to face talks as they touch them on a personal level (Jones, Molitor & Reif, 2018). The faculty could also bear the costs of producing such cards on small cards or pamphlets that will be distributed to every office and desk of the staff and faculty members. This way, the institution will be able to portray its concern on the individual's individual well-being and therefore motivate them to perform better in their respective duties as they are members and players in the system they serve. The new postcards and pamphlets will be distributed on a regular basis to every member of the staff and those that cannot access them will read them in the designated places. This will instill in every member a culture that could be sustained for as long time and which alleviate their individual association with the institution.

Social Wellness Dimension

Humans are by nature social beings. This extends to every part and angle of their living including work and school. The social dimension includes the contribution of one to their community and the environment they are in. In the working and learning environment of the faculty, these include the contribution to the communities' welfare, living and working in harmony with each other and encouraging others when they run into the hardships of everyday life. Few strategies can be implemented in the university to contribute to the already existing social systems.

Initiative 1: Sponsoring a Retreat

Retreats are a great way of encouraging socialization among the members of the faculty and the staff. This would extend to all the departments of the faculty to bring about and improve the acquaintance with each other. The members and staff from every department will be invited to attend the sponsored retreat and the message be communicated to each individual through email or phone messages. The retreat will be scheduled on one of the off days to encourage the members to participate. The retreat location will be selected by the senior members and the organizers by gatherin...