Hands on deck for #WiseUp Healthy living campaign

The Student Affairs Division and Services (DSA) will run the #WiseUp Healthy Living campaign from 19 July to 5 August.

Head of Department: Student Counselling, Leanie Brits, says the mandate of DSA is to educate and support students’ adjustment, development and wellness outside of the classroom through its various service portfolios.  “We strive to create opportunities for engagement and education to empower our students to grow. The prolonged lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic brought with it an increase in psychosocial challenges for students.

“The pandemic challenged people’s resilience and placed great strain on people’s general coping strategies,” says Brits.

The #WiseUp Healthy Living campaign emanated from the need to empower the CPUT community with information, tools, and resources to maintain the fundamental principles of a healthy body and mind.  “It also seeks to promote wellness, mental health, and amongst others, focus on depression and suicide awareness, substance use and abuse and gender-based violence (GBV) awareness,” emphasises Brits.

She adds that the campaign is supported by CPUT’s external partners, the Department of Social Development, the National Institute of Community Development and Management, and the Department of Health, exhibiting on campus on the 19th and 20th of July. The Department of Student Counselling and Campus Health clinic will also show these days.

Students are encouraged to attend the exhibitions’ stalls and the various activities that will run during the campaign. The organisers anticipate that more than 500 students will participate in the on-campus events that will run during this period. The campaign has to adhere to COVID-19 protocols, and therefore, certain activities will be limited per number of attendees to comply with venue capacity restrictions. The drama performance and exhibitions are open air/outside events, these activities will be regulated but limited.

The target audience is all CPUT students, especially students who seek to empower themselves with knowledge and those who want to learn how to live and maintain a healthy life. “This campaign allows students to learn the facts about general strategies to maintain wellness and mental health, substance use and abuse, depression and suicide, and GBV,” summarises Brits.

She also states that wellness and mental health should be a daily priority and that without proper self-care, one might find it challenging to focus on one’s academics and may even notice social and emotional problems such as depression, low motivation, isolation, high levels of stress and inability to deal with pressure.

“Students may end up engaging in unhealthy coping strategies such as increased alcohol use, unhealthy eating and sleeping habits, etc. We are holistic beings; wellness and mental health cannot be separated from our work and academics. We encourage the CPUT community to #BeWise and equip themselves with the knowledge to live healthily,” adds Brits.

To view the line-up, click this link:

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

Email: boyceap@cput.ac.za