The importance of health and wellness among university students has increasingly become a topic of discussion since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When choosing a college, it’s important to know what’s available to you and fellow students. Many campuses – including Daemen University – are working to implement more resources to help students, including counseling services.

For example, Daemen has built a robust offering of services for students tat support both their mental and physical wellbeing.

The CHIP Center (Counseling, Health, Insurance and Prevention) at Daemen serves as a “dual house model” – providing crucial health and counseling services.

To find out more about how Daemen supports student wellness, we spoke with CHIP Center Director Ashley Frazier.

Need for on-the-go health services

Convenience –that’s the idea behind the CHIP Center’s wellness kiosk, which “has anything you can imagine – from over-the-counter medicine, first-aid products, sexual health products, and more,” said Frazier.

“It’s equipped with free on-the-go resources and designed for students’ ease and discretion. For example, if in between classes something happens, they’re a bit under the weather, or just need something to hold them over, they can easily access these products,” she added.

Emergency response

Preparedness is vitally important. The Daemen University Rescue Squad (DCRS) is a group of trained EMTs, including current students who have gone through special training.

“If there is a medical emergency on campus, DCRS is called, triggering the response of community emergency responders, including town police, fire, and ambulance,” Frazier said.

What’s more – there are two urgent care centers within two miles of Daemen’s campus. Students are escorted to either of them via free transportation to receive medical help.

College Counseling

Fortunately, many college campuses offer students free counseling services. Daemen is no exception.

Full-time mental health counselors at Daemen offer both in-person and virtual services to students.

They are on hand to help students with social adjustment, grief and loss, transitioning to college, and more.

“There are a ton of barriers students face physically and emotionally. We create a calm, non-judgmental, safe space for students to come and have a conversation,” Frazier said.

To meet the increased demand for college counseling services, Daemen has hired an additional full-time counselor.

If a student wishes to talk with someone, they can complete an easy and confidential online counseling support form to indicate their availability and connect with a member of the counseling team.

A unique aspect of Daemen’s campus is Wildcat Wellness – a student organization that offers engaging events, resources and programming throughout the year.

“With the pandemic, we’ve collaborated to make sure we could do as many in-person events as possible. This is critical because that was taken from people,” said Frazier. “Putting together programs to practice self care, obtain resources and connect with other people is necessary and important.”

Similar to many higher education institutions, Daemen’s campus counselors train resident assistants (traditionally knowns as “RAs”) as well.

“Our counselors do a great job of training RAs to help identify situations that are sensitive,” Frazier said. “RAs are huge, invaluable resources – they are the ones in residence halls with their peers.”

Show you CARE

Overall, “I think one of the best things to do is be a good friend. Look out for each other,” said Frazier. “This is something we believe in – and practice – at Daemen.”

“If someone is coming to you and sharing something – they are doing that because they are seeing you as a trusted resource and it’s important to take advantage of that opportunity. I think on the individual level, we can all do a really great job of supporting each other by knowing what resources exist on campus.”

One of the best ways to do this is fill out a CARE Report for someone you are concerned about. Anyone can use the CARE reporting system.

For example, if a student is concerned about a friend or a faculty member is concerned about a student, they can fill out the form. The report is routed to the appropriate support service area. Therefore, this ensures the individual is checked on to see if any additional support is needed.

“We train students, faculty and staff to use the system,” said Frazier. “We have a team – made up of administrators from support areas across campus– that meets regularly to discuss concerns we’ve received and how we can best provide support.”

Frazier added, “It’s one of those things that’s very unique to Daemen. Collectively, we want the best for the students, and we have resources where we can do that in an efficient way.”