According to a survey conducted in early summer, 78 per cent of students are satisfied with the university's health services. Nevertheless, there are concerns and needs, wishes for the university - impulses that the Student Health Management would like to take up if possible.
How are students doing at the university? The Steering Committee for Student Health Management wanted to find out more and launched a detailed survey in May, in which 1014 students took part. 72 per cent like or very much like studying here, 68 per cent say they have a "good feeling" (or a very good feeling) about studying at the University of Oldenburg - but there are also concerns, grades and suggestions for improvement.
"One idea that was expressed particularly frequently and that we would like to implement directly is the installation of drinking water dispensers on campus," says Tim Wohlann, who has been coordinating Student Health Management (SGM), which is part of university sports, since summer 2022. He would also like to bundle the existing health-promoting offers, for example from university sports and the Psychosocial Counselling Service (PBS), and make them more visible.
According to Wohlann, the results of the survey are in line with those of other recent studies on the situation of students. Between the after-effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the rising cost of living, exam pressure and fears about the future, many students are under particular psychological strain. For example, 37 per cent of the Oldenburg students surveyed often felt burnt out by their studies in the previous two months, while 39 per cent felt that their health had been affected during the same period. 44 per cent were worried about their health.
More social interaction on campus
"In addition, some people have a strong feeling of loneliness," says Wohlann, "there is a great desire for more social networking and interaction." A total of 29 per cent of those surveyed stated that they were lonely. Together with the steering committee, which includes University Sports and PBS as well as Division 3: Student and Academic Affairs, the General Students' Committee (AStA) and Workplace Health Promotion, he therefore wants to think about more social interaction on campus and collect information on corresponding offers.
The main aim of Student Health Management is to promote the health and well-being of students. "Our aim is to create the framework conditions for healthy studying and to expand programmes to strengthen health skills. To this end, we want to strengthen existing offers as well as create new ones," emphasises Wohlann, who is doing his doctorate at the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Lüneburg in addition to coordinating the SGM. The shared vision is to create a culture of health on campus.
Jens-Olaf Ramke, deputy head of the central university sports centre, emphasises that this needs to be anchored in the long term. In the long term, he hopes "that the promotion of student health will become a permanent task of the universities". This is currently a voluntary task of the universities, for which there is hardly any funding available in Lower Saxony. It is therefore crucial that the development and implementation of systematic approaches to student health promotion at universities in Lower Saxony be politically legitimised and supported with specific funding programmes, as is already being done in some other Federal States.
University sports are in great demand
Ramke can only confirm that students and employees make active use of the existing health programmes such as sports courses. University sports have up to 7,000 participants per week, sometimes even more.
In addition to the interest in sports activities, the student survey - in line with other surveys - also revealed a clear demand for advice and services for dealing with overwork, stress and exam nerves, time management, mindfulness and self-organisation. According to Wohlann, the Student Health Management team could imagine offering corresponding courses in the area of specialisation - especially as students could act as multipliers in their future academic appointments, such as teaching, and thus contribute to a more mindful health culture in society.
The SGM team is also looking into requests for more workspaces for learning and more quiet rooms to be able to withdraw to. In any case, one goal is "to design the campus as a feel-good place where students can enjoy spending time and study healthily," says Wohlann.
Seating furniture that invites social interaction, moving yoga or similar courses outside in good weather, picnic activities - but also the sports boxes already available to borrow from the AStA or the "Moving Break", which could possibly be integrated into other courses in the interests of healthy teaching. The SGM is also planning to take part in a small weekly campus market next spring with stalls from local farms and a focus on healthy eating.
Since the beginning of the month, a student assistant has also been helping to ensure that Student Health Management keeps its finger on the pulse of the student body. And thanks to the support of the Presidential Board, namely the Vice President for Administration and Finance, Jörg Stahlmann, the first two drinking water dispensers will soon be installed in the lecture theatre building A14 and in the foyer of the main building in Wechloy, Wohlann is pleased to report: "a first contribution to increased well-being on campus".
