The Lindenwood University President’s Research, Innovation, and Development toward Excellence (PRIDE) Fund will support a new peer health education project led by Associate Professor of Public Health Dr. Amy Estlund. The Healthy Lion Community project will train two students to support campus-wide health promotion.
The project will create two paid student positions that will directly respond to public health needs on campus. Estlund says the project’s aim is to empower students to be community leaders while promoting a culture of wellness across campus. The peer health educators will collaborate with different departments and student organizations to create wellness programs and events designed to engage students. Additionally, peer health educators will be visible on campus to offer free hygiene and wellness supplies to students.
The Healthy Lion Community initiative aims to give public health students an opportunity to apply their classroom learning across campus. “They are actually living out the curriculum as we are teaching them,” Estlund said. Through regular interactions, peer health educators will identify students’ needs to inform further ways to assist. Tailoring the program to current campus needs will encourage critical thinking and application from the participating students.
Estlund says the program will have an instant presence on campus. “In August, the two peer health educators will start meeting weekly with me,” Estlund said. “Then in September, you could expect to see an Instagram poll so Lindenwood students can identify the preferred resource items and supplies that we have in the wellness wagons.” The program also seeks to supply resources for the Evans Commons food pantry and restrooms in the Library and Academic Resources Center. There are further plans for partnered events and activations surrounding Health Literacy Month in October.
The PRIDE Fund award launches what Estlund hopes will be a long-term project that prepares public health students while benefitting the campus as a whole. “I would love to see peer health education become ingrained within the Lindenwood community,” Estlund said. Through the Healthy Lion Community, students will gain real experience as health leaders while helping to make wellness resources more accessible across campus.