Beth Johnson, MPH, CHES, University of Florida, 2625 SW 75th Street, Apt #409, Gainesville, FL 32607, 540-815-2384, bethers8888@hotmail.com

Background: Even though spiritual wellness improves emotional and physical health issues commonly experienced by college students, it tends to be overlooked by campus wellness centers. Doing so can detract from the opportunity to help students achieve optimal health and well-being. Methods: Individual and organizational needs assessments were conducted using mixed-methods procedures to assess factors associated with perceptions held by the university community regarding the acceptability and feasibility of addressing spiritual wellness on campus. The individual needs assessment consisted of surveying on-campus students via e-mail attachment and in-class distribution (n = 157 of 592). The organizational needs assessment consisted of interviewing advisors, faculty, and community members whose campus organizations were identified by student survey participants as having the potential to address spiritual wellness issues on campus (n = 18 of 31). Results: A majority of survey and interview participants acknowledged the importance of spiritual wellness to the overall well-being of the general population (95.3% and 100%, respectively) as well as the college population (85.5% and 92.3%, respectively). In addition, a majority of survey and interview participants deemed the university campus as an appropriate location in which to address spiritual wellness (56.1% and 88.8%, respectively). Conclusions: Assessing the university community’s perceptions of spiritual wellness can help identify opportunities to integrate spiritual wellness into health education/promotion programs sponsored by various campus organizations. By providing opportunities for the promotion of spiritual wellness on campus, the campus environment will be better suited to aid students in the pursuit of a well-balanced state of health.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to…
• Recognize the importance of spiritual wellness in the lives of college/university students.
• Describe reasons given by college/university students for their positive and/or negative attitudes toward having spiritual wellness issues address on campus.
• Develop a list of campus organizations that may be able to serve as advocates for and promoters of spiritual wellness on a college/university campus.
• Identify specific ways in which the promotion of spiritual wellness can be incorporated into the college/university campus environment.

Keywords: College Students, Alternative Medicine/Therapies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.