Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Research

Children and youth mental-health quality indicators

Western professor Shannon Stewart is advancing data-driven research to improve mental health services for children and youth. Supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research project grant, Stewart’s team is developing quality indicators to measure the effectiveness and quality of child and youth mental health care. Her work focuses on standardized assessment tools, evidence-based care planning, and system-wide data to reduce service gaps, improve early intervention, and help children and families receive the right level of support at the right time.

Exercise-Based Concussion Recovery

Western researchers found that a single 20-minute session of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise can improve executive function and reduce symptoms during the early stages of sports-related concussion recovery. Led by Matthew Heath from Western’s School of Kinesiology, the study examined varsity athletes 3 to 14 days after injury and found that exercising below the symptom threshold improved reaction time, cognitive control, and symptoms such as headache, nausea, and dizziness. The findings challenge the traditional approach of prolonged rest and support more individualized, exercise-based recovery strategies for athletes and others recovering from concussion.

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Teaching

Western’s School of Health Studies LEARN Lab connects undergraduate students in the course Health Issues in Childhood and Adolescence, HS 2700, with elementary school teachers from the Thames Valley and Waterloo Region school boards. Students design curriculum-aligned health education resources on topics such as physical well-being, social well-being, mental health, environmental health, self-confidence, yoga, and healthy habits. By turning classroom learning into practical teaching tools for younger students, the initiative strengthens experiential learning while expanding access to engaging health education resources in local schools.

 

 

Western Law’s Mindfulness and the Legal Profession course integrates mental health, emotional intelligence, resilience, active listening and professional well-being into legal education. Taught by Professor Thomas Telfer, the upper-year credit course requires students to engage in guided mindfulness practice, weekly reflection and applied learning connected to the realities of the legal profession. A 2025 Western study found the course positively influenced student well-being while helping students develop skills relevant to their future legal practice.

Diverse Medical Illustrations for Physiology Teaching

Western professor Anita Woods and Western graduate Priya Modi created Physiology Diversified, an open educational resource that provides free, customizable and diverse scientific illustrations for physiology teaching. The resource allows instructors to adapt layered PowerPoint image sets to different lesson levels while improving representation across health science education. The project supports more inclusive and accessible teaching materials, helping students better understand human physiology, disease presentation and patient diversity.

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Outreach

Community-Engaged Medical Science Projects

Western’s Community Engaged Learning and Research Skills capstone course connects fourth-year Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences students with local organizations addressing health-related community challenges, including homelessness, substance use, food insecurity and aging. In 2025, Schulich highlighted how students partnered with organizations such as 519Pursuit and the Muslim Resource Centre to develop community resources, workshops and support tools. The initiative strengthens outreach by bringing student knowledge into real community settings while supporting organizations working with vulnerable populations.

Discovery Week in Southwestern Ontario Communities

Schulich Medicine & Dentistry’s Discovery Week placed more than 190 first-year medical students in over 30 Southwestern Ontario communities in 2025. Through one-week placements in hospitals, clinics and regional health settings, students learned directly from community health-care partners and explored the realities of rural and regional medicine. The program supports long-term community health outreach by strengthening relationships between Western and regional partners while encouraging future physicians to consider practice in smaller and underserved communities.

GlamourGals Intergenerational Health Outreach

In 2025, Schulich medical students launched a local chapter of GlamourGals to build meaningful connections with seniors at Fox Hollow Retirement Residence in London. Through regular visits, students offered manicures, makeup, basic skin care, bracelet-making and

conversation, creating opportunities for companionship and intergenerational exchange. Beyond the activities themselves, the initiative helped address loneliness and social isolation among older adults while giving medical students a deeper understanding of aging, dignity and person-centred care. It demonstrates how student-led outreach can support emotional well-being in the community while strengthening empathy and human connection in future health professionals

 

 

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Operations

Student Mental Health Strategy 2025–2030

Western’s Student Mental Health Strategy 2025–2030 provides an institutional roadmap to strengthen student mental health and wellness supports across campus. Developed through consultation with more than 2,400 students and 950 staff and faculty, the strategy focuses on building a resilient campus community, improving mental health education, supporting inclusive learning environments and expanding accessible wellness services. As an operations initiative, it shows how Western is embedding mental health into campus systems, services and decision-making.

Orientation Week Care Hubs and Transition Support

During Orientation Week 2025, Western operated Care Hubs and help stations across high-traffic campus areas to support new students during their transition to university life. These hubs provided practical support such as water, snacks and directions, while also making mental health counsellors available to students. Western also highlighted ongoing transition supports through Student Experience, including online modules, peer mentorship, learning support, writing help and wellness programming funded through the Parr Centre for Thriving.

Residence Counselling and Safety Supports

Western’s residence system provides operational health and well-being supports for students living on campus, including free short-term confidential counselling, live-in professional staff, student leaders, front desk support and safety programming. Residence Counselling helps students manage mental and emotional challenges, while residence safety systems include secure building access, 24/7 front desks in most buildings, Residence Safety Teams, trained Dons and Residence Life Coordinators. Together, these services create a structured support network that promotes student well-being in daily campus life.

 

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