Supporting a Whole Campus Approach to a Healthy Campus

Self-Study

Duration 25 hours

Available as Self-Study

Overview

This online course helps academics, student ambassadors, practitioners, policymakers, leaders, and administrators understand what it means to become a health-promoting campus and how the Okanagan Charter can support the development of a campus wellbeing plan.

The course aims to build momentum in Ireland and internationally towards healthier campuses by supporting personal, population, and planetary health.

It supports staff and key stakeholders in Higher Education institutions to develop and implement the Healthy Campus Framework effectively. Peer learning is a central feature, enabling cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Course Structure

Introducing Healthy Campuses — explore the background to the Healthy Campus movement and its relationship with national initiatives such as Sláintecare and Healthy Ireland, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals and Okanagan Charter;
The Evidence for Healthy Campuses — examine the evidence supporting healthy-campus initiatives, the mechanisms required for change, and the potential benefits of implementing the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework;
Understanding Common Needs — examine the common needs shared across university campuses and the evidence supporting different areas of intervention;
Planning for Success — explore stakeholder engagement, methods for identifying campus needs, feasibility, and ways to incorporate the voices of learners and other end users;
Putting Plans into Action — examine practical approaches to planning and implementing a healthy-campus initiative;
Reflection and Next Steps — review the previous lessons and develop personal goals for contributing to the Healthy Campus movement.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Explain health and health promotion and why becoming a health-promoting campus matters;
Explain the principles of the Okanagan Charter and why it represents an important development in campus health promotion;
Identify the different elements of a campus environment and explain how each can contribute to promoting health;
Advocate for a collective-impact approach and begin to mobilise or contribute to a healthy-campus initiative.

Professional Development Recognition

On earning the open badge for this course, you will have achieved further recognition across the following domains of the National Professional Development Framework for Staff Who Teach:

Domain 1: The Self — supports participants in reflecting on their personal health values and professional capacity to create positive change;
Domain 3: Professional Communication and Dialogue — encourages communication across institutions and disciplines as policies, places, communities, and practices increasingly focus on health and wellbeing;
Domain 4: Professional Knowledge and Skills — supports participants in remaining informed about international developments affecting campuses, teaching, learning, institutional policy, and professional practice.