Holiday healthcare encouraged for physical, spiritual well-being

With the end of the semester approaching and students cramming for finals, student health may be forgotten or neglected.Dr. Chris Smith, associate professor and coordinator and family nurse practitioner in the school of nursing, said she does not advise anybody to pull all-nighters to study.

"If you don't know [the material] the night before an exam, there's no point in staying up all night," Smith said. "You don't retain the information."

Smith said: "Time management is huge. Students need to be preparing for their finals well before the day [of the exam]."

Tom Bissonette, counselor with the counseling and career center, said one issue for students during the holidays is the change from a hectic schedule to having a lot of free time.

"Of course [students] want to catch up on sleep.and relax, but it's better if they can have some balance and include some kinds of activities," he said. "Anything that helps them to be physically active."

Chris Smith said she thinks students have the option to eat healthy around the holiday since their parents would be doing the cooking for them.

"It would be more like a normal meal: fruits, vegetables, proteins, carbohydrates and limited fats and 'fast foods,'" Smith said.

"Students also have the opportunity to get some good sleep, because the stress of finals will be over," Smith said. "They're also not in close quarters with someone else.who is sick, so that's a good thing."

Bissonette said it is not unusual for people to get depressed over the holidays. He said students need to try to avoid extremely stressful situations.

"If you are having difficulties during the holidays, it's very important to talk about it with someone," he said.

"[It is important] just to have a friend or family member to confide in," Bissonette said.

For some students and faculty, the holidays mean much more than having a break.

"Thanksgiving is a great time for self-evaluation regarding the ways in which my life has been blessed," Steve Roper, Baptist collegiate minister at the Baptist Student Center, said.

"It is healthy then to recognize that most of us have many more positive portions of life than negative and the positive ones are much more deserving of our focus and energy," he said.

Bisonette said, "I think the most important thing for most people [over the holidays] is to take the time to tell people how you feel, listen to others and reconnect with family and friends.

"In doing that, they're not only going to get through the holidays in stride, but they're also going to get more benefit from it," he said.

Even though the holidays allow a break for students and faculty, H1N1 is still an issue, Smith said.

Students should do the things they need to do to prevent getting sick over the holidays, she said.

"Avoid direct contact with people, cough or sneeze into your sleeve and wash your hands a lot," Smith said. "If you have to cough, cough into a Kleenex, and then throw it away. If you're going to sit in a dorm with someone.you're going to travel, but it's basically the same thing: just good hygiene," Smith said. "Good hygiene is acknowledging that there are people around you who might be ill, so you need to be smart about it."

Contact UTC Health Services at 778-9303 for more information.