Well-being at WMU

Hero

Students on the climbing wall at Student Rec Center.

Be well

At Western, we care about health and wellness and how it helps Broncos thrive. ​We are here to support people in finding their unique pathway on their life-long well-being journey.​
Well-being

Okanagan Charter

WMU is committed to people, places and planet by implementing the international framework specific to well-being in higher education.

A circle with 3 sections of the areas of well-being. The very middle of the circle is your identity. Surrounding that are the eight dimensions of wellness; social, emotional, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, financial, environmental, and physical. The outer ring are outside factors that impact wellness; public/organizational policy, equity, community/cultural norms, living and working environment, sustainability, and socioeconomic conditions/access.

Well-being wheel

At Western, we care about health and wellness and how it helps Broncos thrive.

A student writing "Happiness is key" in chalk.

The Well-being Collective

This multi-disciplinary team of students, faculty, staff and alumni is charged to lead transformational change with the WMU community to be a Health Promoting University.

Why Well-being?

Goal

We safeguard the overall health of our community by embedding well-being into all aspects of WMU's culture, administration, operations and academics by utilizing the social determinants of health and eight dimensions of wellness - physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, environmental, financial and occupational.

Objectives

Objective 1
Make systemic changes in the written and unwritten rules and processes throughout the institution to better empower all people at WMU to flourish and thrive, especially historically marginalized communities.

Objective 2
Scan the built environments at WMU and enhance the spaces where we learn, work, live and connect so they are more inclusive and conducive to holistic health, safety and accessibility for diverse communities.

Objective 3
Adopt the Okanagan International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges and mobilize an institution-wide, multi-disciplinary coalition of students, faculty, staff and alumni to take collective action for a culture of well-being.

Objective 4
Provide effective, equitable opportunities for students, faculty and staff to build the personal capacity, health information fluency and life-enhancing skills they need to thrive in all aspects of the WMU Well-being Wheel, including social, financial, spiritual, environmental, physical, emotional, intellectual and occupational wellness.

Objective 5
Create or re-orient WMU services to provide equitable access to and distribution of resources for prevention, support and treatment.

Key metrics

  1. Increase in sense of well-being and safety among faculty, staff and students as measured through the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) and National Faculty and Staff Health Assessment (ACHA-NFSHA).