Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the major health concerns and services needed by students at a Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. The student research team developed a 48-item survey instrument comprised of four subscales (demographics, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors). The survey was administered in paper form as well as an online format. Incentives were provided to students who participated in data collection. We collected a total of 203 surveys. Demographics appear representative of entire student body population. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS for Windows. Results show that the majority of students surveyed have a good knowledge of the Student Health Programs Wellness Center. Attitudes showed wide variation. Overall, the largest areas of agreement were that “Wellness” is important (98%), there is a variety of programming (73%), the Wellness Center is accessible (77%) and students feel they are “healthy” (81%). Either in contrast to, or as a result of, the fact that students feel healthy they appear to rarely utilize or keep up-to-date with the activities and services provided.
Key words: stereotypical student, wellness, health