Health Education

The Office of Health Promotion and Wellness offers private, individual support to any student regarding any health and wellness topic. Each professional staff member provides emotional care and is able to connect students to on- and off-campus resources. We specialize in offering BASICS, Survivor Support Advocacy, Wellness Coaching and General Well-being Support.

BASICS: BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) is provided to any student on an individual basis, and sometimes BASICS is mandated for students who have violated the alcohol and/or drug policies in the Code of Student Responsibility. BASICS is also offered to students who may benefit from learning more about their substance use. BASICS is an effective, holistic, and evidence-based intervention for helping students reduce risky behaviors and typically involves two one-hour individual sessions. In the sessions, students will learn helpful information related to safety around alcohol and other drugs, including effects of alcohol or cannabis in the body, drug interaction risks, and harm reduction strategies. While BASICS was originally created to focus on alcohol, HPW offers a similar process that focuses more on cannabis.

Survivor Support Advocacy: All HPW professional staff provide confidential holistic support to survivors of sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking. The advocates provide the following:
- Emotional care and support
- Information about counseling, medical resources, Chicago Police Department and DePaul Public Safety Office reporting processes, legal advocacy, academic accommodations, DePaul’s Student Conduct Process and support if the student wants to report to the Title IX Coordinator, and safety planning.
- Referrals and help with navigating appropriate on-and-off-campus resources

Wellness Coaching: Wellness coaching takes a positive motivational interviewing approach to personal development. It focuses on your strengths and using the facets of wellness as a framework for enhancing your well-being. Wellness coaching allows for a growth mindset and empowers you to gain awareness and work towards your health and wellness goals.

General Wellness Support: If you are looking to speak with someone more generally about your health and well-being we can certainly help you. In this appointment you will have the opportunity to talk about anything that is on your mind or that you might be looking for more support and resources for. 

If you are interested in receiving individual support, schedule an appointment by completing this form, calling at 773-325-7129, or emailing at hpw@depaul.edu.

CHOICES: CHOICES is a peer-led workshop the Health Education Action Team (HEAT) facilitates. CHOICES offers education and facilitates discussion around alcohol and cannabis from a variety of perspectives. Students will engage in conversations around the culture of drinking and cannabis use, challenge myths and learn facts, and learn more about the impact on the body and harm reduction strategies to practice safety.

Mental Health First Aid: Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help. Find trainings on DeHUB under the Health Promotion and Wellness group.

Refresh Sleep: Learn tips, tools and resources to improve your snooze. This 7-week completely online email-based course will send you weekly content to help you make adjustments to your sleep and achieve a more restful night’s sleep. Register here to enroll in this program.

Wellness Wednesdays: Join HPW staff and HEAT every Wednesday for a new wellness topic discussion. Gain tips, resources and insights into improving your health and well-being. Find Wellness Wednesdays on DeHUB under the Health Promotion and Wellness group and check out our HPW Blog for previous recordings and resources.

The Office of Health Promotion and Wellness provides holistic programs and workshops involving many health and wellness topics. We specialize in sexual health, sexual and relationship violence prevention, alcohol and drug misuse and abuse prevention, mental well-being, recovery, and stress management. The length and style of available programs and workshops may vary. Faculty, staff and student groups are able to request one of our professional staff and/or Peer Health Educators to present or collaborate on a program or workshop. Workshops are typically 45 minutes to an hour, if you need more or less time please indicate in your request form. To request a health education program through the HPW office, use the Educational Program Request Form at the bottom of this page. For new programs, we ask that you provide at least a 2 week notice prior to the scheduled event. For specific questions, email hpw@depaul.edu. Workshop topics include:

• Alcohol Safety & Harm Reduction Strategies
• Be Kind to Your Mind (Stress and Self-Care)
• Body Positivity
• Consent and Prevention
• Drugs, Highs, Lows and Everything in Between
• Financial Wellness
• Healthy Relationships
• One Love: Escalation
• Recovery & Advocacy
• Safer Sex
• Sex Positivity
• Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Sexual and Relationship Violence 101
• Sleep Health
• Things We Don’t Say (Mental Well-being)
• Vinny Vow (Bystander Intervention Workshop – 3 hours)

HPW also provides education on the following monthly awareness topics. You can find more information by following us on DeHUB and or social media @healthydepaul on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

• September - National Recovery Month; National Suicide Prevention Week
• October - Domestic Violence Awareness Month; National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week
• February - Eating Disorders Awareness Week
• March - National Sleep Awareness Week
• April - Sexual Assault Awareness Month; National Minority Health Month; National Public Health Week
• May - Mental Health Awareness Month

Don't Cancel That Class is a service provided to DePaul faculty and instructors by the Office of Health Promotion & Wellness. If you need to be out of town or an unexpected situation demands your attention,  let us know, and one of our professional staff or students will come into your class on the day of your absence and provide a one hour-long, educational workshop to your students (with the exception of the Vinny Vow workshop, which is three hours long). Submit the Health Education Request form below to request a workshop for your class.