The information below has been adapted from the press release provided by Swellness.
In what seems to be a new wave of mental health awareness, student groups across campus have been attempting to broaden student knowledge and access to resources. One of these groups spearheaded a new initiative on campus: Swellness. Their mission is to promote campus wellness and basic needs resources to all students with a target of freshman, transfer and commuter students.
Riley McGrath, one of the founding members, states, “We started this project to connect and help students understand the resources available on campus and how to access them, which is often difficult on a large campus.” Swellness has been making significant progress with the help of their stakeholder, Jennifer Decima. Decima is the IT Service Owner at the University. Together they have been working on a wellness and basic needs resources module for the Pitt Mobile app. The module will highlight and promote essential wellness related programs, assisting in the search for resources across campus.
Not only is Swellness helping develop an app module, they record a biweekly podcast on the WPTS radio station. Their podcast pertains to different wellness areas including physical, mental and environmental. The most recent podcast features Student Government Board Member, Eric Macadangdang, who is also invested in expanding Pitt’s mental health services.
Let’s Talk, one of these new mental health services you might have heard about, is a free drop-in 15 minute counseling session. Many student leaders promoted this service in October—month with Mental Illness Awareness Week—by wearing the long-sleeved green shirts that said “Let’s Talk” on the front.
Similar to the Let’s Talk program, Swellness also held an open-house in the Student Office of Sustainability on November 19th. The open-house was a safe space for all Pitt students to socialize and connect.
To learn more about Swellness, visit their Facebook page or email them at (pittswellness at gmail.com).