By: Lauren Reiter
Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information, civic/social, health, and financial.
According to PA Forward, Health literacy means “having the ability to make informed decisions in relation to an individual’s physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health.”
This year the Informed Consumer series featured the CAPS program “Mental Health and You.” This session was designed as a safe space to both provide information and answers to attendees. Participants learned about the stress and burnout students can face as a semester comes to an end, or a deadline of a major project approaches. The talk discussed both visible and invisible signs of stress and burnout, providing a variety of recommendations for coping with either as a complement to the initial discussion. Participants learned about the various services our university specifically has to offer, such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The second half of the session was designed as a question-and-answer space, where
the speaker fielded questions from attendees. Questions ranged from what external clinics or resources the institution partners with to asking about the specifics of what takes place if a student is in crisis. The latter half of the session could have easily stretched well beyond the scheduled time as the information was well articulated, kind, and empowering. -Kat Phillps