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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1994)
Health Center focuses on prevention By Rebecca Oltmans Staff Reporter The role of the Uni versity Health Center is more comprehensive than it has been in the past, offering services to help students take re sponsibility for their own health, said Janet Crawford, head of the Community Health Education De partment. “The center has gone from pri marily treatment to more emphasis on education and prevention,” Crawford said. Because students are typically a very healthy age group, most ill nesses are acute, Crawford said. The Health Center has in-house physicians and specialists from the community who see students. “Students don’t typically come here with chronic illnesses,” Crawford said, “but the behaviors they start now can lead to chronic problems later in life.” Students need information to make the right choices to prevent these problems, Crawford said. some oi inai miormaiion is available through the Community Health Education Department. The department educates students on alcohol, drugs, sexuality, and oth er health issues. “We teach about lifestyle choic es,” Crawford said. Students are starting to experi ment with alcohol at a younger age than 10 or IS years ago and are entering college with an earlier drinking history, Crawford said. They also experiment with sex at an earlier age, which is more dangerous than in years past, Crawford said. “Ten or 15 years ago an unwant ed pregnancy was what most stu dents worried about when they had sex,” Crawford said. “There arc more consequences to worry about now.” Those consequences are one rea son why students at the Health Center who come in for first-time • contraception prescriptions are re quired to take a contraception class, Sexuality Education Coordinator Pat Tetreault said. The contraception class teaches students about sexually transmit ted diseases, HIV and other illness as well as what to expect at a gyne cological exam, and how to do self exams, Tetreault said. “It’s estimated that 80 to 85 per cent of college students are sexually active,” Tetreault said. “A lot of stu dents have had their first sexual expe rience by the time they come here, but for many it is the first time they are responsible for themselves and they start to explore.” Students need to know the options available to them to be safe, Tetreault said. Abstinence is the first option and barriers to bodily fluids the sec ond. Condoms are one such barrier but are not always used partly because some students aren’t confident about using them. . “It can be hard for students to use them because you want to be comfort able with yourself and comfortable enough to talk about it and not all students are,” Tetreault said. Drinking can also be a reason stu dents don’t use condoms. Tetreault said students mixing sex with alcohol reduces the likelihood of wearing a condom because it lowers inhibitions and lowers perceptions of risk. Stu dents who mix sex and alcohol tend to have more partners than students who don’t, putting themselves at risk, Tetreault said. Risky behavior, and not what type of person one is, leads to sexually transmitted diseases, Tetreault said. But many people have stereotypes about that. “STD’s are the third most common infection, following right after colds and things like that,” Tetreault said. “But people still have the attitude that STD’s aren’t common.” It is hard to tell how well students use safe sex because the numbers on STD’s arc estimates and the numbers arc usually higher by the time the estimates come out, Tetreault said. Chlamydia and genital warts are the fastest growing STD’s at this time, Tetreault said. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is growing fastest in women and adoles cents, but students of all ages are at risk because of the long incubation period of the virus, Tetreault said. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that one out of every 250 people is infected with HIV, meaning about 100 students on the UNL cam pus may be infected, Tetreault said. For some students the pressure of these lifestyle choices and just life in general can start to be too much to handle alone. Many students experiencing short-term problems turn to Counseling and Psycholog ical Services (CAPS). “Two thirds of the students we see don * t have a diagnosable disor der, they just need some insight on what they are dealing with,” said Robert Portnoy, department head of Counseling and Psychological Services. Relationship issues are one of the most frequent reasons people come to CAPS, even if they are not aware that is the problem, Portnoy said. For transitory problems such as relationship troubles, individual counseling is most often used. But more intense therapy is sometimes used to help deeper problems that students may or may not be aware of, Portnoy said. “We are seeing more and more eating disorders,” Portnoy said, “in both men and women, although women make up 95 percent.” Women, ages 12-13 and 18 19, are are especially prone to eat ing disorders, Portnoy said. There is more than one type of bulimia being recognized now, Portnoy said. With this new type of bulimia, people do their purging through exercise, sometimes spend ing up to four or five hours a day exercising. it shard tot ind a luestyle com patible to spending that many hours exercising,” Portnoy said. Cases of depression, both mild and severe, are also very common, Portnoy said. CAPS has two psy chiatrists to help students deal with depression and a wide variety of antidepressant drugs can be pre scribed, Portnoy said. “Some of the newer drugs being prescribed now, such Prozac, have very few side effects and a good effectiveness rate,” Portnoy said. There are also alternatives to prescription medicine, such as cog nitive behavior treatment. Some times depression can be rooted in earlier problems that developed while growing up, Portnoy said. Portnoy said that although they typically see first- year students, UNL students of all ages do use CAPS. Health insurance available to UNL students By Rebecca oitmans Staff Reporter Many students don’t realize at what age they are no longer covered by their parents insurance policy, Sheryl Augstums, student insurance coordi nator, said. Normally when students reach the ages of 22 or 24 they are no longer covered on theirparents’ policy. Some policies won’t even cover students after the age of 19 unless they are in school full time. Augstums said, and some don’t cover students after they get married. Student insurance is offered for both graduates and undergraduates, Augstums said. The policy is a basic medical accident plan that includes hospitalization. International students using the Health Center must now show proof of medical insurance, i nat oecamc man datory last fall, Augstums said. The majority of international students use the Health Center and those with proof of private insurance can waive the student insurance. Those without proof of private insurance will be automat ically billed on their tuition statement for student insurance. Students taking seven or more hours during the regular school year and four or more hours in a summer session automatically pay Health Cen ter fees through tuition, Augstums said. The Health Center fees are what subsidize the Health Center and allow students to see a physician or nurse at no charge, Augstums said. The Health Center fees also provide for a reduced rate to see a specialist, receive any kind of medical procedures, or have lab tests, Augstums said. However, Augstums said, me in surance does not cover prescriptions, dental work or any type of routine wellness exams such as annual gyne cological visits, even though the ser vices are available at the Health Cen ter. “Allergy and physical therapy fol low-up care are the most often filed claims.” Augstums said. Insurance is available for depen dents, but the Health Center only sees students at this point, Augstums said. Insurance is also offered to new graduates and other alumni, Kersi Pajnigar, director of Business Affairs for the Alumni Association, said. The insurance is meant for gradu ates who are in between jobs, Pajnigar said. The insurance is for a maximum of 186 days and then can be extended once for another 180 days. Get • Super Premium Homemade lee Cream • Gourmet Flavors • Gourmet Waffle Cones • Low Fat Frozen Yogurt • More Than 25 Mix-in Ingredients 16th & Q» Next to Boston Chicken Cornerstone The Campus Ministry of: The Disciples of Christ Church The Presbyterian Church The United Methodist Church United Church of Christ Invites you to share with us as you journey in your life and in your faith during this university year. •Sunday Morning Worship *Pastoral Counseling •Volunteer Community Service •Choir •Random Fun 640 North 16th Street (402)476-0355 - Open 11:30 AM onsodn. Coffee, or theYear! _ TmI • Burger Madness on Tuesdays &. Sundays_ • Live DkTs on Friday & Saturday Nights_ 322 S. 9th St.476-8551
