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Home / Student Life / Health, Wellness, and Safety / Student Health and Wellness Center / Peer Health Advocates

John Carroll University Peer Health Advocates are students committed to promoting healthy choices and lifestyles through educating and empowering themselves and their peers on a variety of health-related topics. By providing innovative, creative, and educational programming, outreach, and one-on-one interaction opportunities. Peer Health Advocates will serve as a resource, referral agent, and role model for their peers.

Through training and group dynamic development, the Peer Health Advocate will learn to take care of their own wellness, deal appropriately with stress, and increase leadership skills. Peer Health Advocates are expected to provide their peers with information to make healthy, informed decisions regarding health and well-being. Peer Health Advocates are aware of health-based initiatives at JCU and are committed to living healthy lifestyles themselves. They are aware of campus resources and are comfortable in promoting healthy relationships and substance-free activities.

Peer Health Advocates are trained through a two part process. The first segment is a general introduction to presenting, theories, and well-being concepts. The second segment is specific to the concentration of the PHA. This can be either relational, behavioral, or physical. To apply to be a Peer Health Advocate, fill out the application below.

Being a Peer Health Advocates is a year long commitment. All Peer Health Advocates will earn $8.30 an hour, excluding trainings.

Below is a more full list of all responsibilities and expectations.

Under the Supervision of the Office for Health Promotion and Wellness, the Peer Health Advocates will:
  • Maintain good conduct and academic standing with John Carroll University.
  • Attend and complete an educational retreat at the beginning of each semester that they are a Peer Health Advocate.
  • Research, develop, and execute programming for the JCU community that is interactive, positive, fun and non-judgmental.
  • Uphold standards of privacy befitting their role.
  • Learn the basics of prevention, college wellness, and the strategies for change/harm reduction in high-risk behaviors.
  • Develop listening, responding, and referral skills.
  • Create awareness of health topics affecting JCU students through various means including: poster and social media campaigns, newsletters, Carroll News editorials, Public Service Announcements, one-on-one interactions, tabling at health education initiatives and general availability for program participation.
  • Help students find appropriate resources to support healthy behaviors by making referrals to the appropriate professionals (Health Education, Residence Life, Counseling Center, Health Services, Violence Prevention Action Center, Campus Safety Services, etc.)
  • Uphold standards of healthy living by (but not limited to) committing to:
    • Avoiding underage alcohol consumption
    • Avoiding illegal drug use
    • Perpetuating a healthy body image
    • Using appropriate gender expressions and identities and language choices as learned in training
    • Recognizing the signs and symptoms of both healthy and unhealthy relationships
    • Engaging in some type of stress-relief/renewal on a weekly basis
    • Identifying the various campus resources addressing health-related issues (Counseling Center, VPAC, Health Center, etc)
Peer Health Advocates will be committed to:
  • Attending and being enthusiastic, engaged and thoughtful participation in bi-weekly Peer Health Advocate meetings on Tuesdays at 7pm.
  • Willingness to promote events, raise awareness, and be a leader and role model on campus.
  • Participating in and the organizing of campus-wide as well as organization specific programs related to health topics
  • Attendance at an educational retreat and participation in future trainings for incoming Peer Health Advocates.
  • Providing information, resources, programming, peer advice and visibility to peers.
  • Creating awareness of presence in Res Halls (where you live, how you can be accessed, what you do, what the Peer Health Advocate program is, etc).
  • Participating in Residence Life building and floor meetings.
  • Attending programs developed by other building leaders (Residence Life, Health Education, Residence Ministers, etc.) when possible.
Qualifications
  • Must be a full-time student at John Carroll University.
  • Must have a 2.5+ GPA
  • Must be in good standing academically and judicially.
  • Must have completed and passed AlcoholEdu.
  • Be a role model for responsible and healthy lifestyle choices and enthusiastic about listening to peers and offering advice on wellness issues and stress-relief .
  • Must be non-judgmental, responsible, reliable, and act as a resource to students.
  • Must possess strong verbal skills and the desire to interact with and present information to peers.
  • Must demonstrate the ability to work with individuals and groups in a leadership capacity.
Application Timeline

Applications will open in early Spring 2020.  Specific dates are TBD.

*The above timeline is tentative to change, please contact Jamie Greenwolf, jgreenwolf@jcu.edu, with any specific questions.