By Mallory Harris | Staff Writer
Throughout the semester, Baylor Wellbeing posted 90-second videos to provide students a way to check-in with how they are feeling. Covering topics of anxiety, sleep, breathing and more, these short videos are meant to capture students’ attention and promote healthy living.
“Through the pandemic, I wanted to really look for different ways to communicate to our population in the new way of doing business,” Randall Brown, manager of the Benefits and Wellbeing program, said. “So, I was looking for something virtual that people could just click on, consume and benefit from and go on about their day without it requiring a huge time commitment.”
Brown explained that in his search for content that would benefit students, he found Naturally Slim, a vendor that works on creating habits that lead people to live healthier lives. When Brown first saw the videos, he found them relevant and timely and was overall impressed by their content. Putting these videos on the Wellbeing program’s website, Brown explained students can look at them anytime but are pushed to be a quick check-in at the start of the week.
“On Mondays, we do push those 90-second videos out, and the focus of those videos tend to be on mental health; it just made sense to push something out so people could start their week with a quick hit,” Brown said. “And on Wednesdays, we have 90-second videos as well, and those focus more on the physical dimension of well-being.”
The Baylor Wellbeing program launched in 2016 and is embedded in the Human Resources department. Since the program has operated for a few years now, Brown explained during COVID-19 many companies looked toward Baylor while developing their own well-being program.
The program is broken down into five dimensions of well-being: physical, financial, emotional and social, spiritual and professional. Jon Singletary, dean of social work, sits on the committee in the emotional and social dimension and explained that the program is to be supportive of both students and faculty. To accomplish this, Singletary mentioned Baylor hosted goat yoga at Diadeloso one year, and during COVID-19, chair yoga was introduced.
“It entails all kinds of programs and events that just remind us to take care of ourselves,” Singletary said. “My area specifically is really focused on both typically what we think of as mental health but also sort of mental well-being; how do we take care ourselves and each other, so how do we nurture relationships that are healthy and encourage everyone to look out for one another in our lives?”
Baylor Wellbeing still has videos planned for the remainder of the semester for students and faculty. Brown explained along with the videos on Mondays and Wednesdays, they have more content throughout the week students can access on their website.
“The intent [of the videos] is to meet people where they are,” Brown said. “Another video may focus on sleep or breathing exercises or anxiety, and so if somebody is in that space and is really looking for support for that issue we really hope those quick-hit videos will provide some help and guidance for those individuals.”
