Health Promotion Mission and Values
Wellbeing isn’t the job of one office. Instead, wellbeing is threaded through our everyday lives—the places we live, work, play, and study, the friendships that we build, and the choices that we make.
The Health Promotion Department builds deep connections with many partners at Tufts to work together to shape a campus where all students can learn, grow, and thrive. This work takes many forms—including collaboration, student-run initiatives, education and engagement, systems change, and much more. Throughout, our core questions remain relatively constant: what do we want—for ourselves, our communities, and each other? How can we work together to get there?
Collaboration
Collaboration is the heart of our work. Some recent collaborations include:
- Partnering with a fraternity to pilot a project to provide appealing non-alcoholic beverages at large social events
- Consulting with student leaders to transform group traditions to promote safety, respect, and inclusion
- Supporting the Career Center in helping students navigate challenging emotions during job searches
- Providing guidance, funding, and support for students distributing Narcan and other essential harm reduction supplies on campus
- Training a partner office to conduct focus groups on basic needs with students living off-campus
- Redesigning Orientation programming to foster social connection and increase opportunities for students to make friends
Student-Led Initiatives
Our department oversees several student-run initiatives. For example:
- Mental Health Representatives develop campus-wide initiatives designed to combat mental health stigma and educate students on healthy behaviors
- JumboConnect and Grad Connect, two peer-led programs, aim to increase connection on campus resulting in decreased loneliness and improved mental health
Education and Engagement
Our department develops and implements educational programs on key wellbeing topics for students, families, faculty, and staff. This includes:
- An educational module on substance use for all incoming undergraduates
- Trainings for offices, departments, and student groups
- Orientation sessions about health at Tufts
- A guide for effective family conversations about substance use
- Mindfulness programming for graduate and undergraduate students