Health coordinator reaches out to students, shares knowledge
According to Virginia Solan, coordinator of violence prevention programs, the current University of Idaho Vandal Health Education coordinator embodies the qualities necessary to help students learn about their health — warmth, compassion and the drive to make a difference.
“Health is really something Emily has a passion for and something she loves teaching others about,” Solan said. “She just cares so much, and that’s essential.”
Nate Mattson | Argonaut
Emily Tuschhoff, coordinator at Vandal Health Education.
Emily Tuschhoff, who assumed the position of health education coordinator in the fall of 2014, said she hopes to help students become more actively engaged in understanding their health.
“My ultimate goal is to be in a place where I’m empowering people to make their own decisions about health,” Tuschhoff said. “I want to help communities be well, stay healthy and have power over their own choices.”
Tuschhoff said when she joined a prevention science research group while completing her undergraduate degree at Washington State University she found her passion for teaching others about the importance of health.
“I joined this group, and the research we conducted really opened my eyes,” Tuschhoff said. “There are so many health problems people face going into adulthood, and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, it would be amazing if we could prevent all of these future issues before they even start.'”
Although Tuschhoff coordinates the health education program, she said the program would not be where it is today without its student staff members and interns.
“While I’m the coordinator, this is really about the students,” Tuschhoff said. “They’re the ones who come up with new ideas to reach students, the ones who really put all the pieces of this program together to make it a success.”
Tuschhoff said through the development of the health education program she has seen the value of peer education.
“It’s more effective to have students out there interacting with their peers to help them make their own decisions,” Tuschhoff said. “I work with the peer educators to discover new methods of reaching out to students that will help them become more engaged.”
Solan, who first met Tuschhoff during a Green Dot facilitator training session, said she is amazed by what Tuschhoff has done with the health office’s peer educator program.
“Emily has taken our fledgling peer health educator program and done incredible things with it,” Solan said. “She is getting students excited about their own health and encouraging them to reach out to others … It’s really great work.”
Solan said she views the health education program as something that will aid students in all walks of life.
“What Emily does is so foundational to our students being successful,” Solan said. “An understanding of health and how to make good health-related choices is something that will serve students in their academic and personal lives.”
Marissa Rudley, UI campus dietician, works under Student Health Services in addition to the Vandal Health Education program. She said Tuschhoff is expanding the program to be more diverse.
“It’s a great program to provide resources for students on campus, and Emily has a lot of good ideas on how to expand it,” Rudley said. “She’s building the program to cover a diverse range of health issues like sexual and mental health.”
Rudley said Tuschhoff also aims to partner with other departments that focus on alcohol consumption and nutrition to create a more holistically inclusive program.
Tuschhoff said she hopes the Health Education Resource Room will one day serve as a safe place where students can feel comfortable asking questions about their health.
Although the program is still young, Tuschhoff said she has hope for the future development of the health education office and its peer educator initiative.
“The peer educators and I are constantly working to improve this program and find new ways to reach out to students,” Tuschhoff said. “I’m so grateful to be a part of this program … I feel like what we’re doing here is really making a difference and we’re heading down the path to empower students.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]