Banding Together for Wellness graduates its first cohort BY MELISSA L. WEBER
Inspiration can strike anywhere, anytime. For Christa Newtz, RN, MS, it happened when she was stuck in a highway traffic jam. “I was thinking about how our students seem so stressed,” she said. “We just had a presentation from our dean about the college strategic plan, so I was also thinking about how wellness was an important initiative of our college. I thought, ‘what will inspire the students to learn more about their health? What will motivate them?’ And I just thought of this program.” Banding Together for Wellness is a web-based, selfpaced program that presents key components of the nine dimensions of wellness embraced at Ohio State. Online instructional modules developed by Newtz and a team of faculty and staff in the College of Nursing guide students through the dimensions and help them incorporate wellness into their lives. In addition to emotional wellness, which incorporates stress management, the other eight dimensions of wellness include career, social, spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual, creative and environmental.
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While helping students manage stress was Newtz's initial goal, she and her team members saw the program as a way to promote the broader concept of self-care for nurses. Each semester, participants choose two of the nine dimensions. As they complete each module, they earn a colored wristband. Modules are accessed through Canvas, the classroom support system used at Ohio State. Assignments include watching a video, reviewing information, completing a suggested wellness activity and submitting a document with: 1) their response to the video, 2) a wellness plan specific to the dimension and 3) a description of the activity they completed. The graduating class of 2018 is the first cohort to complete the program. Newtz and her team of developers presented it to the students as they entered their sophomore year. Students were encouraged – but not required – to sign up. Students who complete all nine modules earn a certificate of completion and a special honor cord that they wear at convocation and commencement.