Newly Renovated Health Services to Hold Open House
By Cassie Ferguson
Gazette Staff
Enjoy a free massage, snack on healthy treats, and have all your health
care questions answered during the University Health Services (UHS) Open
House on Thursday, April 16.
The festivities, to be held in recognition of the recent renovations
to the Services' facilities as well as its accreditation, will last from
noon to 4 p.m. at 75 Mt. Auburn St.
"We hope students, faculty, and staff will join us in the afternoon
to celebrate," said David Rosenthal, director of the University Health
Services and Henry K. Oliver Professor of Hygiene.
Recently the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations,
a group that is independent of the University and that evaluates hospitals
and health care organizations, awarded UHS its highest measure of excellence:
accreditation with commendation.
"This accreditation shows how much has been achieved," said
Rosenthal.
Visitors to the Open House will have a chance to tour its newly refurbished
facilities, which have been completely renovated in the past few years.
They can ride the elevator down to the bottom floor to see where the new
mammography machine is, stop at Mental Health Services on the fourth floor,
and top out at the remodeled Stillman Infirmary on the fifth floor.
They can also visit the second floor's new resource library in the Center
for Wellness and Health Communication (CWHC). There, they can read through
a library of health care literature, browse through various software programs
and CD-ROMS, and watch videos about everything from stress management to
repetitive strain injury.
"Everyone in the Harvard community is welcome to come use our resources,"
said Michael Hoyt, resource center coordinator at CWHC. "There's always
someone here to talk to and you don't need to make an appointment."
Although the CWHC is not a counseling center, said Linda Frazier, program
manager for health promotion at UHS, health educators are on hand to discuss
issues and provide referrals if necessary.
The CWHC provides health and fitness advice aimed at faculty and staff
as well as classes in yoga, healthy cooking, and nutrition. They also offer
programs for work site intervention, stress management, and preventing repetitive
strain injury.
"We try to take an encompassing approach to health care," said
Frazier.
"We deal with the whole person and his or her environment,"
said Christine Hollis, manager of the CWHC.
Students use the CWHC and are encouraged to discuss health concerns with
the educators there. While providing health resources on demand has been
one part of student care, UHS also focuses on outreach efforts, including
providing telephone help lines, same-day counseling, and anonymous HIV testing.
Every incoming student receives a new version of the Guide to UHS
Services and last year UHS distributed more than 25,000 health pamphlets
on issues from alcohol abuse to date rape and will soon offer much of their
literature online.
The emphasis on improving student care followed up a study where UHS
asked students a number of health care-related questions including how stress
affects their health, personal, and academic life as well as their perception
of UHS. Hollis said, "Based on students' requests when they come into
the Center we found that students wanted information on everything from
repetitive strain injury to anonymous HIV testing and fitness advice."
Rosenthal said, "In the past few years, UHS has taken some very
concrete steps. Clinicians work closely with mental health and other specialists
to provide interdisciplinary care for students. We've also brought on several
new physicians with a background in women's health issues."
Copyright
1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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