LU launches Wellness Strategy to support students, faculty and staff

NEWS RELEASE
LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY
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Lakehead University is launching its first Wellness Strategy on Monday, Jan. 25, acknowledging nine dimensions of wellness and describing a plan to support the wellness needs of students, faculty, and staff.
 
The plan’s mission is to embed systemic health and wellness practices and services into the University, to support the well-being of the communities where faculty, staff and students work, study and live.
 
“Through the Wellness Strategy, we are furthering our commitment to support the holistic health and well-being of our Lakehead community, recognizing that investing in the enhancement of health and wellness will better position our students for success in the classroom and as they enter the workforce upon graduation,” said Andrea Tarsitano, Vice-Provost, Students, and Registrar.
 
The development of Lakehead University’s Wellness Strategy has been influenced and supported by Lakehead University’s current Strategic Plan, Academic Plan, and Research Plan, all of which contributed to the objectives, metrics and strategies described in the plan.
 
It was also developed after consulting with members of the University community who provided feedback on what they hoped to see in the plan.
 
“The launch of our Wellness Strategy represents a seminal moment for our Lakehead community in striving toward our vision of an inclusive University that supports the diverse and shared wellness needs of our students, staff, and faculty,” said Adam Shaen, Associate Vice-President, Office of Human Resources.
 
The strategy acknowledges the following dimensions of wellness: social, physical, occupational, intellectual, financial, environmental, emotional, cultural, and spiritual.
 
Living a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle is even more important since COVID-19 arrived in Canada last year. 
 
Some of the plan’s objectives include embedding the wellness of students into the onboarding and orientation of new faculty and staff hires, developing more web resources to increase understanding of the services and supports available to students, and applying a health and wellness lens into the Facilities Master Plan highlighting the importance of light, windows, open communal spaces, etc.
 
Educational institutions across Canada have been advancing their overall perspectives on wellness over the past decade. In 2015, the Okanagan Charter was developed, calling on post-secondary institutions to embed health into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health promotion action and collaboration both locally and globally.
 
On March 20, 2019, Lakehead University marked the official beginning of its commitment towards the development of a Wellness Strategy that would support, encourage and inspire a culture of holistic health and well-being for the Lakehead community.
 
Lakehead Thunder Bay and Lakehead Orillia hosted kick-off events called Our Trail to Wellness and the Okanagan Charter was officially signed by Dr. Moira McPherson, President and Vice-Chancellor, and Dr. Dean Jobin-Bevans, Principal of Lakehead Orillia.
 
To view the Wellness Strategy, visit www.lakeheadu.ca/trailtowellness.