Health Services
One factor being impacted by the pandemic includes mental, physical and
emotional health issues. When the students are on campus, they may have
access to various mental health supports including counseling support
groups and low-cost medications. Some students have an on-campus health
insurance provider. Now that the university has switched to remote
education the student’s ability to use their health insurance, obtain
necessary medications may be disrupted or in total disarray. Rather than
blame students for their situations or try to “fix a damaged” student,
we should be employing a trauma-informed approach that focuses more on
the inequities within the system.
When considering our students’ ability to thrive we must remember that
they are organisms, and they too need a healthy internal environment.
Therefore, we must bear in mind that their health may have been
sustained due in large part to the availability of on-campus services.
COVID-19 is scary and anxiety inducing even for the most composed and
well-resourced student. For low income students, this is possibly a
point where they could fall through the cracks of the education and
healthcare system. It is incumbent upon instructors to be conscious of
their voices in the virtual breakout rooms and their words in the chat
for signs of excessive worry and distress. We cannot make up for lacking
access to healthcare, but we can provide the support students need to
survive a significant threat to their physical, mental and emotion
well-being.