With the recent launch of the Owls Breathe program, FAU faculty and students alike are given access to making doctor appointments, tips on how to better educate themselves regarding their well-being, and the ability to schedule free therapy appointments at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) through the MyFAU app. 

Launched as a part of Owls Care Health Promotion (OCHP), the program allows students to book doctor appointments with Student Health Services (SHS) and access the CAPS webpage directly from the MyFAU app. The program follows a four “level” approach, with each level adapting to what the last could not accomplish, according to Karen Murray, director of OCHP and facilitator of the Owls Breathe program.

Level one of this program seeks to educate students by providing students access to different informative sites to inform themselves about whatever they might need. Level two seeks to provide non-clinical tips on how students can manage their health, such as providing coping mechanisms, and access to free workshops and yoga classes around campus. Levels three and four seek to provide short-term and long-term clinical services to students such as SHS and CAPS.

Murray says 52.8% of students have viewed the Owls Breathe webpage through MyFAU since its launch in September. 

The lack of access to health care has caused 32% of college students around the country to feel overwhelmed by finding help, according to a BestColleges article. Health is often deemed as students’ second priority, however, access to health resources at universities everywhere is a matter of importance as it allows students to not only thrive professionally but also candidly.

For Nimisha Rajendran, president of FAU’s American Medical Women’s Association chapter, a healthy campus is defined by a school’s ability to provide “ample amounts of support and giving them the best resources so students can be the best students they can be.”

Furthermore, only 21% of students throughout American universities were completely sure of where to find access to mental health resources, revealing the need for student health promotion throughout universities. 

FAU’s Division of Student Affairs is one of 63 universities across the U.S. to launch student health initiatives on behalf of the Healthy Campus 2030 initiative, created to provide colleges around the United States with doctor appointments, tips on how to better educate themselves regarding their well-being, and access to free therapy and other mental health resources. 

According to Murray, this program seeks to become the “cornerstone to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity and to serve a community that supports each other academically and personally.” 

Students at universities throughout the United States also suffer from food insecurity, which paves the way for malnutrition and other health issues, ultimately impacting students’ overall mental health. As explained by Murray, this program does not only offer resources for mental health, but it also provides students access to a variety of health professionals around all of FAU’s campuses.

By allowing students to seek resources for their well-being in their own time, students are allowed to learn more about the different ways in which they can care for themselves, such as through tips given on the site for topics spanning from sexual health to maintaining a well-balanced diet, all of which can be accessed through the MyFAU app.

This allows students to find help directly from those who can address their needs and reap the benefits of finding assistance adapted to each of their unique circumstances.

Unlike other health programs FAU provides, such as the FAU Thrive initiative, the Owls Breathe Program aims to be fully adaptive to student’s individual needs while also providing students with on and off-campus resources for both their physical and mental well-being.

Gabriela Quintero is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information on this story or others, contact her at gquintero2022@fau.edu.