Healthy Campus Mainz: New project for student well-being started!

Healthy Campus Mainz: New project for student well-being started!

The “Healthy Campus Mainz – healthy studying” project will be resumed on April 1, 2025. The aim of the project is to establish holistic health management for around 30,000 students at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) is initially funding the project for three years. From the fourth year onwards, funding will be provided by the Mainz University Medical Center. The initiative was discontinued in 2023 due to expiration of funding, but is now receiving new impetus with a kick-off meeting of the steering group at which the next steps were presented.

As part of the health initiative, the physical, mental and social health of students is to be promoted. Reported on this unimedizin-mainz.de of alarming numbers: 68% of students say they suffer from stress. In addition, 59% complain of head pain and 55% of back pain. In view of this, the project is planning a variety of measures to prevent psychological stress and strengthen individual resources.

Need for support services

The results of a current study carried out by the TK are explained, show a worrying deterioration in the state of health among students. While in 2015 84% of those surveyed rated their health as very good or good, in 2023 the figure is only 61%. In addition, the proportion of students who often feel stressed has increased from 23% to 44%. The main stress factors are exams, multiple stresses from studying and work, and financial worries.

The stress is further increased by the consequences of the corona pandemic - 35% of students feel burdened by this. Digital teaching, combined with less social contact and exercise, is cited as a key factor in increasing stress levels. Young people at university specifically want more offerings for mental health, time and self-management as well as sports and exercise offerings.

Health-promoting measures

The “Healthy Campus Mainz” project plans to develop, implement and evaluate new health-promoting offers. Offers from the first project phase should also be resumed, such as the Health Express. Communication channels, including the homepage and social media presence, will be reactivated in order to increase the visibility and accessibility of health promotion offers in the long term.

The Competence Center for Healthy Universities emphasizes in his analyzes that the burdens on students have increased since the Bologna reform. Many experience more stress than their peers who are not studying and report a higher frequency of anxiety and psychological disorders. In this context, the introduction of student health management is of great importance. It is necessary to carry out a comprehensive inventory in order to develop targeted measures that will particularly benefit vulnerable students.

In summary, the need for structured and comprehensive health promotion at universities is obvious. The project in Mainz has the potential to offer students new perspectives for a healthy and balanced study period.