Let's Talk UNLV

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:20
Hello. Hello again. And welcome to Kun V Public Radio, 91.5 let's talk UNLV today. We have a special guest with us here from the Wellness Center, and I have my guest introduce herself. Hello,

Srishti Avesti 0:32
everyone. My name is Srishti avesti. I'm a graduate assistant for Department of wellness promotion. I'm in my final semester for program mha.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:44
Okay, fantastic. The way that we start to show is I was asked my guests of their origin story. So tell us, how did you end up here at UNLV. What did you get your bachelor's degree, and how did you end up to where you are

Srishti Avesti 0:55
now? Okay, so my bachelor degree is in Bachelor of dental surgery I did experience in dentist, and after that, I changed my profession to healthcare administration, because I was passionate about public health and community wellness. So I chose to switch my degree from a patient directly patient care to a public sector. And previously, I was a student at University of New Haven. I completed my first semester there. Then I choose to UNLV, because I was really passionate about research, and that leads me to change my university, from University of New Haven to University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Here, I got one of my paper published. So I feel very fortunate that I choose this university,

Dr. Sammie Scales 1:47
excellent, excellent. And anytime I go over to the Wellness Center, the first thing you know, usually that comes up is talking about the wellness wheel. So can you explain what the wellness wheel is, and why is it such an important tool for achieving balance in our lives?

Srishti Avesti 2:01
Yes, sure. The balance wheel is a holistic model that address eight interconnected dimensions, all of which promote balance and overall professional well beings. By examining each dimensions, individuals can identify their strengths and areas for improvement, helping them to lead more balanced and fulfilling life. Often, people don't realize how different dimensions can impact their overall well being, and so taking the time to access them can be key to kinding and building their maintaining a healthy sense of balance. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 2:41
great. Now you said have eight dimensions there. Can you tell us about the eight dimensions? Please? Yes, perfect. I

Srishti Avesti 2:47
can tell you the first dimension as occupational wellness. It is mostly, mostly focusing on career development, certifications, work ethics, education, trainings and aligning for your professional goals. The second one is spiritual wellness, which is emphasizing on your values, ethics, trans traditional beliefs and intuitions. And third one, when it comes to it, is intellectual wellness, which is yes, yeah, which is like more focused on the time management, study techniques, memory, imaginations and goal setting, skills to support lifelong learning and mental growth. Excellent, excellent. Yeah. Then we come for the fourth one, which is like physical wellness, which is prioritizing your fitness, nutrition, recreation, sleep, relaxation and energy levels, and alongside prevention health practices, emotional wellness is the fifth I could say, is very important, which is like developing strategies for stress management, increasing emotional resilience, fostering joy and understanding your personality and self efficacy, involvement wellness is the sixth one, which is raising awareness of Community Services and political and worldwide issues and sustainable practices such as recycling, food choices and natural resource management. Social wellness is cultivating healthy relationship, building strong connections with family and friends. Financial wellness is managing finances through budgeting, financial literacy, saving and ensuring food, housing, security for a stable future. These are the eight dimensions which is very important for health.

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:43
Absolutely, absolutely. So what programs and services are available at UNLV to help students address the different dimensions of wellness? Because all of the eight,

Srishti Avesti 4:52
yes, there are variety of programs which we provide to UNLV and to support students in every. Dimensions of the wellness. The first one is, like many departments within the student wellness that address the student well being on campuses, provide events, trainings. Then we have Student Health Center offer primary care, nutritional services, gynecological care, immunization and more to promote physical well being of and student. It also focus on the counseling part of the students like to help make sure their mental well being is working properly. They don't feel anything stressed. So Counseling and Psychological Services provides mental health and service to support the emotional wellness. This wellness zone, which is like situated like offer the free wellness resources and health education trainings and programs tailored to all eight dimensions of wellness. The Wellness Educator host events like aromatherapy. They also focus on the financial workshops to help students explore different areas of wellness. The Student recreational and Wellness Center provides workout facilities, intramural support and outdoor programming to support physical wellness. Also, the Career Center helps students navigate their occupational wellness, both in their career and academic pursuit. UNLV also offer a variety of RSOs and student organizations that promote social well being by providing students opportunity to connect and engage

Dr. Sammie Scales 6:37
Absolutely So you did mention about aromatherapy. Can you tell us a little bit more about aromatherapy?

Srishti Avesti 6:44
Yes, it is like connected by the Wellness Promotion Department, and they are giving candles to the students. They are providing how you can meditate in that during session, how it can relax your mind. We give the students to how you should sit in a posture and understand more about the section of the aroma and how it can balance your mindset. So, yeah, that's

Dr. Sammie Scales 7:13
excellent. You know, I've been at several events where there was aromatherapy. One being over in STP this past semester, one being in how actually, two, being in Stonewall. And one is coming up in Howe town next week, actually. And I see how students gravitate to that particular event to make those little candles sense, to just relax. And especially, you know, at like midterms, at finals, those kind of things and so, and I can imagine also the, well, the Wellness Center being quite busy, you know, during the unfortunate event surrounded December 6 of 2023 and, you know, of course, midterms, finals, those kind of things that they get busy. This is when students are stressed out. So the services that you provide over there that the Wellness Center provides, very critical to students. So let's keep moving here. How does your the UNLV wellness zone support students in maintaining their overall health and what type of wellness supplies are available there? Well,

Srishti Avesti 8:11
in addition to hosting events that help students explore the different dimensions of wellness, the UNL UNLV wellness zone offers a variety of health and wellness supplies, training and certifications and harm reduction supplies. We also provide a certified peer educator program, which is like designated to prepare a student for peer education roles on college campuses. This training is offered as an effort to promote student health, wellness and safety by empowering students to support their fellow peers. We also give a question Purdue refer. It is a suicide prevention training that it teaches individual how to recognize the warning signs of suicide and use three step to help someone who is at risk. It is a very, I could say, any everyone should join that thing. It is sometimes, you know, we don't know what our friends are going through Absolutely, and you will learn about it and and the third important, which is like mental health first aid, which is MHFA, is a certification that provides individual with the skills to identify, understand and respond to mental health and substance use challenges. Participants learn how to listen, non judgmentally access risk to harm and provide reassurance and support and connect the individuals and to the people and family, which they are they might diagnose with it. Yeah, my friend is having showing some of the symptoms which is related to mental health, which I have learned in my training. So this is how it will affect the bonding and it will affect the mental health of the people surrounded us. Yes,

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:00
oh, wow, yeah, okay, yeah, because it seemed like, Excuse me, so many times we think that, you know, students are only stressed out at midterms and students are only stressed out at finals. But there's other things that's going on in the lives of students, you know, with their families, and all those kind of things that you know can be consuming and you know, you want to make sure that we are aware of these warning signs. So when, when, when those particular events are taking place, is it free for all of the students to attend these things? Yes,

Srishti Avesti 10:28
every training which we are providing, whether it's like MHFA or a red watch bank training, which is for Alcohol overdose, and the Narcan training, which we provide for opioid overdose and every training which I mentioned here is free for students and free for everyone.

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:46
Okay, can you tell us more about the red watch band? Please? Yes, sure. It

Srishti Avesti 10:50
is that training is educate the students on alcohol awareness, and it provides the knowledge and awareness to skills to prevent the toxic drinking of alcohol, because sometimes people don't know what is the toxicity level for alcohol. So we teach that in this program, you'll empower the students to recognize and respond to risky situations, promoting a culture of kindness, responsibility, compassion and respect, while fostering safety and support to the people around you.

Dr. Sammie Scales 11:22
Wow, that's definitely important, especially with there being tons of college students here on campus, you know, and it's always fun and exciting for students to to be away from families, but, you know, not having that experience with alcohol and maybe drinking for the first time, and not knowing what their alcohol levels are and how much they can actually so that's really good to know that. So could you share how Narcan works, and because you mentioned that earlier, and why is it important for students to have access to it, especially in emergency situations?

Srishti Avesti 11:52
Yes, true. Narcan is also known as naloxone. It is a medication for opioid overdose, and it is a life saving drug that is quickly reversed effect of an opioid overdose. It works by binding on the same brain receptors as opioids, dislodging them and preventing dangerous side effects like slowed breathing. Narcan can administer via injection, or it can be used as a nasal spray. We are providing nasal spray to the students in our like in our campus, and it's very easy to administer, and it is like within minutes, it affects the person who is overdosed. And given the rising rates of the opioids use the presence of potent drug like fentanyl in the community, having Narcan available in emergency situation can save lives. Also, it is incredibly important for students to have access to Narcan, especially in emergency situations, because of the increasing rates of opioid use, including the potent drug like fentanyl. Opioid overdose can happen quickly and unexpectedly, even from a small amount of fentanyl, which is many times stronger than heroin. Wow,

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:13
so, and there's a training for that to teach the student how to do that, and that's training as well. Just like the other trainings are free as well. So how do, and you spoke about fentanyl here. That's one of the things you know. That's a we can see any, almost any time you turn on the news, someone overdosing on fentanyl. So how does fentanyl and another drugs test strips help prevent, help in preventing overdose and death, and why is it crucial for students to know about these particular resources here on campus?

Srishti Avesti 13:40
Well, when we provide the training for Narcan, we provide like basic idea of fentanyl and xylazine test strips as well, because these drugs are very potent, and xylazine is very common and referred as trans which is a tranquilizer for the veteran, like we give it for the animals, and it is a mixed like it is common on the streets with the mix of illicit drugs and increase the risk of overdose, whereas comes for the fentanyl, fentanyl test strips are the essential tool for preventing overdose death by allowing individuals To test substance for the presence of dangerous drugs like fentanyl and which is often mixed with the street drugs, unknowingly, as many students may be unaware, that the drugs can encounter could be laced with fentanyl or xylazine, education about the testing options provide them with a simple but powerful tool to reduce the risk of accidental overdose.

Dr. Sammie Scales 14:43
Wow, is there any do the wedding Center have any idea about how students here on UNLV campus get their hands on these particular drugs? You know when they're of course, you know when it comes to alcohol, all it needed someone that's 21 to go and buy the. Call from across the street. But when it comes to these drugs, has there been anything reported on how students are getting their hands on these

Srishti Avesti 15:08
mostly like it's come from the friends, those who are partying all together. Sometimes you go with the peer pressure, like your friend is doing, you are also getting exposed to and most of the time. These drugs are very common in streets. You can, you know, those who want it, they can go and find the people who are providing these. So in Vegas, all these things are very common and available in the streets. You don't have to look for a very fancy shop to find these.

Dr. Sammie Scales 15:39
Okay, cool. So how does UNLV free condoms bar help students engage in safer sex practices, and why is it important to make these supplies available for our students here on campus,

Srishti Avesti 15:52
UNLV free condom bars is a valuable resource for students to engage in a safer sex practices by providing easy access to condom and other barrier methods, it helps eliminating some of the barriers that might prevent students from practicing safe sex, such as cost of purchasing condoms or a lack of privacy in acquiring them, by offering these supplies for free, The University encourages students to prioritize the sexual health and take proactive steps in preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Making these supplies accessible is important because it foster a culture of responsibility and awareness around sexual health. It also empowers students to make informed choices about their sexual well being, knowing they have a resources available to them at no cost,

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:46
excellent, you know, so out in the community, you know, student people are able to just go to these different clinics to get different things that they need. But luckily, these students here on campus have the Wellness Center where they can go and get you know these sexual kits, if per se, you know whether it's condoms or lubricants or dams or whatever it is that they need, so they have that accessible here on campus, which is being paid for by the tuition. So definitely recommend them taking advantage of that. So what impact does period poverty have on students, and how does UNLV provision of free menstrual products help address these particular issues that students have here on campus, we

Srishti Avesti 17:29
also provide free access to the menstrual products. Period poverty, when individuals lack access to afford menstrual products, can lead a significant impact on students, affecting their health, comfort and ability to practice in school. Student may miss classes, struggle with maintaining hygiene or face emotional distress due to the inability to access necessary products. Also UNLV provision of free menstrual products. Helps to address this issue by ensuring that all students have access to the essentials they need to manage their menstrual health. This initiative promotes inclusively and support contribute, think to a more equitable campus and environment where student can thrive, and there should be no hindrance for their health, whether it's physical, mental, financial, as I have talked about, we are focusing on all the aspects of health.

Dr. Sammie Scales 18:32
Wow, that is excellent, you know. And even with you saying that, it points out that the Wellness Center is looking out for all students, not just male student, but female students as well. Whatever they need, they pretty much can just go to the Wellness Center and, you know, check in and get what they need at that wellness center. So the focus is on all students and being inclusive stuff. That's great. And I definitely know that. You know, having that particular service for all students because of the skin color promotes a sense of belonging as well over in the Wellness Center, so students can actually feel good about going over there and being taken care of to the fullest, definitely. So what are some of the strategies for students to manage stress and maintain emotional well, emotional wellness during particularly challenging times like exams or major projects that they may have?

Srishti Avesti 19:19
I would suggest students to manage stress and emotional well being by practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques, which is like taking a minute or practice mindfulness or deep breathing exercises. It can help there to calm their mind and reduce their anxiety. They can also practice time management and prioritization, which is usually comes with assignments and lot of exams are coming in, some of them are working. So all those things, they can work with. The time management, they can schedule based on the importance and priorities of the task when it has to be done. So they can focus. On that. They can prepare a to do list, prioritizing, what is the deadline they feel like more important. They can also focus on the stay physical active. Like physically active, they can do exercises. They can use the fitness gym, which we have. And they can also focus on the social support. They can talk to their family members. They can speak out to the parents. They can speak to their friends, what exactly they're going through. Sometimes we don't feel comfortable to speak to the parents or anybody you know who know us. We might think that they might judge us what we are going through it. So we also provide students to go and talk to the people on the campus. We have a support team, which is like providing them emotional support and sense of connection. And sleep and nutrition is the most important. Students should take seven to eight hours sleep, which is like fuel to their body with the nutrition meals and to maintain the energy and focus.

Dr. Sammie Scales 21:02
Excellent, excellent. What advice would you give students who may be overwhelmed and unsure about where to start when it comes to improving their wellness?

Srishti Avesti 21:11
I would suggest that start with the self compassion. First and foremost, be kind to yourself. It's okay to feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it's important to acknowledge that important to improving the wellness is the gradual process. It is not like, don't expect that immediate perfection. It will take time. It is a long process. What matters and it also focus on one of the area at a time. I would suggest like, sometimes people are disturbed by the financial and mental wellness altogether. Sometimes it's like they are not well. Financially, they are not well. Emotionally, they are struggling with the physical health. They are not healthy. So I would suggest that they should go with like, you know, addressing the first thing at a once, and then once they are identifying the area of wellness, one area of wellness, they can focus on that, whether it's like physical health, emotional or financial, or any other parameters. Once they are like, yeah, now I have reached, like, the problem which I was facing financially. I'm able to cope up with it. I can change it to my next priorities, like my health. I can look into my health. And I would also advise the students to utilize the campus resources, which is like UNLV offering a lot of resources to help you alongside the way. And you don't have to figure it out all alone, visit the wellness zone for free resources events that cover all the dimensions of wellness, including stress management, environment and social wellness. If you need more emotional support, you could reach out to the Counseling and Psychological Services, which is known as caps, also for the support and guidance. And, you know, we also provide massage chairs. It is very relax, relaxating. Oh, wow. Students should try

Dr. Sammie Scales 23:11
definitely. I didn't know you had massage chairs over there. You know, at my last institution, that's one of the things that that my last institution was, was really big on its self care and self compassion. So one day out of every semester for class time, and in every one of my classes, we have like a self care day, and where the students didn't have to come to class, but they did have to have to do something and send a picture in of them just relaxing and taking care of themselves, whether they were out shopping, roller skating, relaxing in the park, laying on the sofa, just relaxing, looking at TV. So that was the assignment for that day, just sending a picture of you relaxing and doing self care. And I had students where they were sending pictures of them at the nail shop getting their nails done, or the hair done, or guys at the barber shop. So I think that self care is really important. And I think a lot of times, you know, students, students and people in general, spend a lot of time being nice to other people, but you forget to be nice to yourself. You know, there are times when you should just sit down, turn the cell phone off, and just relax and enjoy yourself, you know? So, so, yeah, so could you tell us about what your major role is over in the Wellness Center,

Srishti Avesti 24:23
I'm currently a graduate assistant. I'm looking for the harm reduction I'm giving trainings to the students. I'm awareing students about the opioid overdose, how Narcan can prevent it. I'm providing alcohol trainings. I am providing them what is the limit of alcohol one should consume in an hour? And if somebody is you know, overdosed, how can you revive the person? What are the steps you can do it? However, university is taking initiatives to take care of you. I'm also promoting about the. A system of our university, how it is affecting, you know, it this program is actually giving knowledge to the students for the there is a stigma, honestly, how to talk about drugs, how there I, when I do tabling, I see a lot of students comes in and they say, Oh, I don't do drugs. I don't need Narcan. So it's like Narcan is not for people, those who do drugs. It's for the people, those like those who don't do drugs. It's for the people, those who are consuming drugs. And it's a life saving drug. You can keep it even if you don't consume it, you don't know when you're walking on the streets. Somebody asked for Narcan because the other person is not breathing that time. You can just take it out from your bag and give it Yeah, I have Narcan. It is not necessary that you should consume drugs then only to be Yeah.

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:47
So these, these cans of Narcan that you give to students, and those are free as well. Yes,

Srishti Avesti 25:53
it is. It is free. Our department is also planning to provide a od kit, which will include the mask and gloves. Right now, we are only providing two sets of Narcan in one box. We have two sets of Narcan with four mg potencies. So it's like it's easy to use, no harm. It is safe for pregnant women. It's safe for adults, it's safe for kids, it's safe for everyone. Okay,

Dr. Sammie Scales 26:20
so if some of the professors or faculty staff that's listening to this broadcast, and even some of the students, if they wanted to get a get in contact with you at the Wellness Center to set up something where you can come in to do these trainings, how would they contact you? To do that?

Srishti Avesti 26:35
They can directly reach out to my department, which is Wellness Promotion. They can reach out to my preceptor, which is Erica. You can also email me, and we have also available everything in the university site for student wellness. You will find it every month. We provide trainings for alcohol and Narcan. We also provide CPR trainings if you attend our alcohol training, you'll be eligible for our CPR training, which is like free, which gives you two year certification, and it is totally free, and that's

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:11
here on campus. Yes, it's, oh, I had no clue, so I'm definitely gonna have to sign up so I can come through the Narcan training to get my CPR. Yes, of course. It's very helpful, absolutely. Now, earlier. And one last thing I want to ask you about earlier, you mentioned that there's a there's a massage chair. So do you need to sign up for that? Or how do you make an appointment for that?

Srishti Avesti 27:30
You can directly walk into the department, and you can just tell the person who is sitting on the reception area that you want to access it. It will give you a 15 to 30 minute session based on your requirement, and it will assign you you don't need any prior appointments or schedule it something like that.

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:47
Okay? And my final question, if money was not an issue, if money was not a problem at all, what would you like to see for the Wellness Department?

Srishti Avesti 27:57
I will see like students should come in and grab all the things which is necessary, in terms of drugs, in terms of, you know, the education, the training. Right now, Narcan is free. We are providing it. But outside our campus, it costs $50 to find a Narcan. So it's like, you know, all the things which we are doing it, I want to make more events like provide more free narcans, more we provide mocktail trainings to the students in our alcohol training. So I want to do it more regularly. Right now. We are doing it once in a month. I would prefer every week, if money is not the matter. So I would like, you know, I would like to talk more about sexual transmitted disease, how we can prevent it. I can, you know, I can reach out to the people from the other like universities, how they are taking initiatives on this for their students, so that, you know, we can indicate those important points in our university students to give them a better surroundings and area to live.

Dr. Sammie Scales 29:05
Excellent. Thank you so much. I can feel the passion that you have for this particular program that you're in. It definitely comes through in your interview here. So Srishti, thank you so very much from the Wellness Center for coming to speak with us here on Let's Talk, UNLV, you've given some very valuable information that I hope the students will take advantage of. So anytime you want to come back, the door is open. You definitely come back. Thank

Srishti Avesti 29:30
you so much for having me here. I really appreciate it absolutely. Thank

Dr. Sammie Scales 29:35
you. We thank you for coming all right, and that's a wrap.

Dr. Renee Watson 29:41
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