A person’s well-being can be difficult to maintain whether eating healthy or visiting the doctor when the first signs of illness arrive however, campus health staff are here to aid.
The Student Health Center brought its services closer to students in their second health fair in the Great Hall on Wednesday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m to 2 p.m.The Great Hall was full of medical professionals, personal health products, and physical demonstrations, in an effort to bring attention to resources available for students.
“All the students that are enrolled at Pierce are required to pay an $11 health fee and a majority of them don’t take advantage of that. They don’t take advantage of the benefits they can receive on campus for little to no cost at the Health Center,” volunteer Kareen Cohen said.
The Health Center & Wellness Fair was introduced to students last spring. The event was initially a suggestion made by student Lori Peters, after an assignment of hers demonstrated that only half of her class knew the Student Health Center even existed.
According to Student Health Center Assistant Loralyn Frederick, only about 30 percent of the student body currently use the health center’s services.
“We try to advertise outside on the marquee, we do several interviews with the Roundup, and we have a Facebook page, but this is one of our major events,” Fredrick said. “It was our inaugural event last spring, and it was such a success so we are trying to find other ways and do other events as well.”
The Health Center offers a variety of different services to the students and the fair was no exception, offering many on-the-spot health services to attendees.
The 11 booths staffed focused on kinesiology, mental health, nutrition, blood sugar, blood pressure, harmful effects of tobacco, vision tests, S.T.I and sexual education, low cost health insurance through Covered California, and an evaluation table set up to educate the students on their current health status and what steps to take to improve upon it.
“The health office offers everything from blood testing, S.T.I. testing, and free condoms,” Peters said. “Even if students just cut themselves and need a Band-Aid they will have one ready for them. We also counsel on mental and nutritional health, and I want to make sure everybody knows about that.”
The Student Health Center staff plans to continue the fair in the upcoming semesters, in hopes of getting even more students to use the resources that are available to them in the health office.
“Come look into the health office, just visit, you don’t have to be sick,” Peters said. “Go in and take a look at what they have to offer, they have a menu of services in their lobby. Just look and see what they have to offer and tell your friends about it, because that $11 covers every student for the whole semester.”
