(Kelly Steele/ Windsor Star) — The University of Windsor has kicked off a program designed to get students struggling with mental health issues into a physical fitness routine.
“We certainly know all of the issues with students getting in to see counsellors, the wait time, the prevalence of mental health issues on university campuses, and we wanted to provide a service to the university that was almost two-fold,” said University of Windsor human kinetics professor Krista Chandler.
“We really wanted to try to improve the mental health for the university student body but also to try to increase the participants’ level of physical activity.”
The program, UWorkItOut UWin, started as a pilot study in the fall with 11 participants. The university’s faculty of human kinetics teamed up with the student counselling centre to conduct a study that examines the role of physical activity in reducing acute mental health concerns. The participants, who were selected by counsellors at the university, followed a six-week program where they worked one-on-one with a trainer. After completion of the six-week cycle, they moved into a three-month study where they were paired with a “buddy” and worked out on their own. (…)