Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
The Peer Health Educators is a student organization working to promote healthy lifestyle choices. Members meet weekly for one hour to discuss current issues, to meet with guest speakers, and to plan presentations and events accordingly. Peer Health educators are also given the opportunity to volunteer additional time on special projects throughout the year.
The group focuses on educating others on comprehensive sexual health.
The main topics covered include:
- Inclusive and sex positive perspectives
- Relationships
- Safer sex practices
- Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Social norms & UMD Student Health Survey data
- Communication
- Consent
- Sexual assault prevention, resources and victim/survivor services
- Bystander Intervention/collaboration
Recommended resources for sexual health information:
UMD Health Services medical services
Go Ask Alice from Columbia University
Sexplanations, YouTube channel
The group also focuses on educating their peers on alcohol and cannabis harm reduction.
The main topics covered include:
- Recognizing and responding to the Signs of Alcohol Overdose
- Risk Reduction (i.e. metabolism, serving size)
- Predatory drugs
- Biphasic response
- Phases of drinking
- Bystander intervention
- Medical amnesty
- Physiology
- Black outs
- Impact on academics and sleep
Involvement
We are looking for students who have an interest in learning about sexual health or alcohol and cannabis issues and sharing that information with other students in a variety of ways, to include classroom presentations, informal discussions in housing units, tabling on campus, creating educational documents and brochures, and volunteering for a number of programming events. If you are interested in learning more or becoming a member of peer health educators (PHE), you may contact one of the PHE advisers.
Lauretta M. Perry, MLS – Prevention and Wellbeing Program Coordinator can be reached at (218) 726-7058 or [email protected].
Benefits
- Provide health education to other students.
- Expand leadership and group work experience and skills.
- Build your resume.
- Meet people with similar interests.
Request a Presentation
If you are interested in having the Peer Health Educators in your classroom or housing unit, please contact Lauretta Perry, adviser, as indicated above.