By Nicholas Bianco / Jambar Contributor
Youngstown State University hosted the 13th annual Wellfest on Oct. 16 in the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
Wellfest gives YSU nursing students the opportunity to share wellness and mental health topics, as well as provide resources to students and community members.
YSU students learned about the different aspects of health through posters, tips, activities and handouts.
YSU nursing students discussed health related topics such as breast cancer prevention, human trafficking awareness and the effects of vaping.
Drinking and driving, sexually transmitted infection prevention, stress management, the effects of caffeine and sugar on the body, depression and suicide prevention, proper nutrition and benefits of exercise were among other topics discussed at Wellfest.
Dina Fabry, assistant director of fitness, wellness and special events at the Rec Center, said mental health, cancer and high cholesterol prevention were the biggest topics discussed at Wellfest.
“It might not necessarily be topics that students think about initially, but it’s always good to provide those resources, so they know how to handle things later on in life,” Fabry said.
Fabry said on and off-campus vendors were invited to Wellfest to promote wellness, mental health and fitness.
“[They were there] to share resources and just provide more information of what’s out there for the community in case students need those resources,” Fabry said.
Mason Edmonds, the Rec Center’s YSU community liaison, said Wellfest is a partnership between the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services’s Centofanti School of Nursing and outside agencies and other support systems.
Wellness-based resources such as Meridian Healthcare, which Edmonds is a member of, provided information on health topics to community members in attendance.
“It’s really trying to spread the mental health message and mental wellness across campus and this event champions that,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds said Wellfest is meant to attract non-nursing students and community members to learn about health topics.
“We tried to really open the event up to be accessible and interesting for everybody on campus,” Edmonds said. “There’s a lot of cool things that people can learn at the nursing tables, and cool resources they can gather, too.”
Edmonds said the organizers of Wellfest tried to make the event a relaxing environment.
Fabry said the event was successful and accomplished the goal of providing physical and mental health resources to the community.
“We just wanted to provide as many resources as possible,” Fabry said.
YSU students can also visit the Wellness Resource Center located in the Rec Center, which was designed to promote healthy lifestyle choices in areas of fitness, nutrition, mental health, spiritual health and personal safety.