An exploration of the peer-to-peer organization supporting our campus community.

In his work titled The Great Good Place published in 1989, American sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the third place theory which refers to places where people spend time between home and work. Third places, Oldenburg notes, compliment first and second places – our homes and work spaces – providing what he argues to be an integral setting for societal development. Third places are spaces that are accessible to all, regardless of social divisiors and hold no expectations for those who enter.

Third spaces historically have been at the cornerstone of many revolutions and social reforms. Bars – or taverns as they were then known – served as settings during the American revolution for gatherings and organizations. Cafes too became places of important social exchanges in Europe as their popularity grew between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. One prominent example of the power of third places in contemporary history is New York’s Stonewall Inn, which in 1969 served as the launching ground for the Stonewall riots that helped jumpstart the LGBTQIIA+ rights movement. 

Third spaces are unique in that they allow for individuals of varying backgrounds and walks of life to cross paths and connect, when they otherwise never would have. However, despite the  importance of these spaces, accessibility to them has been on the decline as it has become increasingly hard to find outing options without breaking the bank (thanks a lot, capitalism).

And even as we’ve moved past the closures brought on by the pandemic, the transition from virtual to IRL third spaces has been lagging behind – still, online forums are favoured over community halls for public discourse. While digital platforms pose little to no barriers in their ability to  connect individuals on incredible scales, in-person connections are still invaluable.

Humans are social beings, and there’s just something about face-to-face interactions that the virtual world is yet to be able to replicate.

Fortunately, here at the University of Saskatchewan, we have our very own unique third space open to all students, faculty and staff focused on facilitating face-to-face interactions that are missing in the modern day. Home of the organization known as Peer Health is the USask Community Centre.

Despite having been in operation for over four years prior, the USask Community Centre celebrated its official opening on January 29th of 2020. Now, four years later, I’ve had the chance to explore how far the space and its peer-to-peer support initiatives have come in supporting the wellbeing of students on campus.

For over 20 years, health outreach coordinator Rita Hanoski has been working for Peer Health. Motivated by the interesting challenge it posed, and having the opportunity to work with students, one of her major responsibilities became coordinating Peer Health and its volunteer and health outreach initiatives.

Created to fulfill the outreach component of a primary health care site, Peer Health has been integral in supporting students here on campus. One of the most notable elements of the program is its peer-to-peer approach that has students taking the lead in supporting other students, as Hanoski explains: “It’s something we talk about a lot now, but that peer-to-peer piece is evidence-based and the best way to do health outreach on a campus or among young adults.”

Along with outreach, the organization has also acted as an option for students seeking volunteer opportunities and personal development that aligns with their goals. “Where I hear a lot of the benefit is from peers themselves.” Hanoski states, “they are the ones who are mostly being immersed in the health outreach information.”

I wanted to know what Hanoski thought about the effectiveness of the Peer Health initiative. It’s true the research tells us that peer-to-peer support is beneficial, but how much so? “Well, I think it’s been very effective.” She starts, “Students would much rather hear from another student, especially when it’s sort of related to their behavior. And students, they can talk about their own experience.”

While Peer Health advocates for healthy living, I think what a lot of us can appreciate is that it doesn’t come off as ‘preachy’. The tools and information are always there, but you’re never forced to utilize them. It truly is a place where you can come as you are, and leave as you want to be.

Initially, Peer Health was provided with limited funding, forcing the organization to be propped up solely on the efforts of dedicated volunteers. In the years since its inception, the program has grown considerably. “We used to have one little office for the coordinators,” Hanoski remenices. “And then this tiny basement space where we stored our materials and supplies. Then we moved to two offices and some storage and a meeting room. And then we were able to move to the USask Community Centre that we share with the faith leaders. It’s a beautiful space and we can make it sort of what we want.”

Now as the university has recognized how beneficial and cost effective it was, more investment has been put into the program. Just recently there was a very large donation allowing Peer Health to remain secure for the next three years. 

With the increase in donations, more projects have been able to be taken on to support the needs of students on campus. This has provided Peer Health the ability to offer honorariums and limited stipends for students who are able to take on more intensive leadership positions. As Hanoski explains: “That alone has changed things because once a person is paid to be a leader, they can become that leader – they can take on so much more. So it’s really good that we can actually thank volunteers, thank students for doing the work.”

Within Peer Health, there are various groups led by student facilitators that work within the ‘Be Well Strategy’ framework under the tenets of healthy mind, healthy body, and healthy life. In my quest to gain a better understanding of the work that Peer Health does, I had the opportunity to talk with the student leaders.

Eric Yu, fourth year physiological and pharmacological student has been with Peer Health for over three years and is currently acting as Student Facilitator for the Healthy Body group. His initial involvement simply started off as a way to gain experience, but eventually turned into something he became very passionate about. “I help promote these events and student wellbeing on campus, and it’s helped me a lot.” Yu says. “I’ve met a lot of people, done a lot of things, learned and grown personally. Like I think I’m a better leader now. I’m more open.”

Yu’s group – as the name suggests – focuses on physical wellbeing, and its cognitive aspect. This includes things such as safe and mindful drinking, and mindful substance use in general. His volunteers promote this message by writing blogs informed by their personal experiences about a range of topics from nutrition to physical activity. They also host a cooking group every Friday.

The goal of this weekly event is to teach people about food insecurity, ways to get adequate nutrients without spending too much money, and to learn how to make simple recipes that can be done even with a busy schedule.

You may have found the Healthy Body group hosting tunnel events and informational workshops. It’s through these instances that provide – not preach – useful knowledge. Yu explains, “we can’t shadow people when they go out. We just make them mindful about the possible risks that could happen and help them be safer.”

A few days after my conversation with Yu, I joined Audrey Ajose as she hosted a booth at the engineering building on men’s mental health with a special focus on those that are BIPOC. An international student in her third year of psychology, her primary role at Peer Health is Cultural Wellness Facilitator. Her booth is one of the many ways the Cultural Wellness group works to promote the wellbeing of international newcomers to campus, and letting them know about the many resources available to them, including Peer Health.

Ajose started out as a volunteer in 2022 and worked on different projects promoting things such as sexual wellness, mindful eating and healthy lifestyles. Eventually she became involved with the Faith Leaders that also shared the USask Community centre space, and became one of the student supporters. 

As the only international student facilitator at Peer Health, Ajose brings a different perspective to the organization, and especially to the relatively young Cultural Wellness group. Her approaches to handling culture shock and being new to not only campus but the country as well, are informed partially through her own experiences, which makes her especially relatable to those going through similar changes. Looking forward, she hopes to continue nurturing the group to reach as many people as possible, and to make it known that there is a space for everyone.

If you’d consider yourself a bit of a bookworm, you should keep your eyes open for the Worldhoppers Book Club. Another initiative by Cultural Wellness, Ajose started the club as a way to promote diversity through reading books from a wide range of authors from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and walks of life. This of course is inline with the group’s belief that every story is worth being listened to.

Down the hall from Ajose’s booth, John Zhao was also hosting an event with his group Healthy Mind in collaboration with the Saskatoon Engineering Students Society. With fun games, activities and free stuff, he and his volunteers were spreading awareness about seasonal affective disorder and ways to handle its symptoms.

Zhao, a fourth year health studies student and another student facilitator for Peer Health, explained: “[that this event] is kind of similar to the other activities we do. We usually kind of focus on education and awareness, and I guess empowering students to take action. And usually it’s about their health and wellbeing, and my group specifically targets mental health and aspects of wellbeing including loneliness and things like that.” He continued, “and we also do social gatherings, to combat the kind of isolation we experienced during the pandemic. And facilitate making connections with each other and forming new friendships.”

In the summer of 2021 after his first year of university, Zhao joined Peer Health as a way to get involved on campus. Though he initially started off online due to the pandemic, when operations went back to in-person he had no trouble with the transition: “I kind of got to know some people [at the community centre] and it was a really welcoming space, and the people that were there were great and inspired me to do more, and kind of encouraged me to take a more active role. And that’s kind of why I decided to become a facilitator.”

Despite me interrupting his playing of the guitar available at the USask Community Centre, Ryle Rada was kind enough to answer my questions about his involvement with Peer Health. In his fourth and final year in psychology, Rada acts as the student facilitator for the group that I’m also a part of called Peer Listener Support. The goal of his group is to make conversations about mental health less taboo and more accessible.

What surprised Rada about Peer Health was the sheer amount of programs and projects that  volunteers were able to come up with in relation to the wellbeing of students. He’s volunteered for over three years with Peer Health, and when he started out, promoted healthy lifestyles through events such as game nights, and social media promotions. A year later, he landed the position he holds now.

Peer Listener Support is responsible for the Drop-In Centre, a service at the community centre that provides peer-to-peer listening support. This had particularly interested Rada as his involvement allowed for real-world applications to what he was studying in his classes.

New this year is the Drop-In podcast available on Spotify, hosted by his volunteers Justin and Daniel. In line with the group’s goal, the podcast takes a chill approach to mental health and other things students may be struggling with. The hosts invite other students and individuals from the community to talk about their experiences, share some laughs and just have a good time.

Every month, third-year psychology student Gina-Marie Wirt organizes and hosts the ADHD support group. She was motivated to leave her career and return to school to pursue another degree by her interest in the science behind human behavior and the mind, and it’s this interest that led to her becoming a student facilitator for the group.

The ADHD support group and similar groups such as invisible disabilities have been around for a while, but Wirt is looking to improve the service. Currently she regularly has five to ten students come in for the semi-structured sessions and is hoping to have more participants and facilitators. She would like to see it grow from monthly meetings to weekly, and to be able to introduce a wider variety of programming.

The ADHD support group isn’t just for those that have been formally diagnosed, and is also open to those that suspect that they may have ADHD. There’s a space for everyone looking to find support and camaraderie through relatable experiences.

“I had recently gotten diagnosed with ADHD myself, and I was sort of just going on a bit of an independent journey, researching and just adjusting to a new perspective.” Writ reminisces. “So I was basically just sort of struggling a little bit in the gray area about everything that was going on with my mental health. And then when I stepped into Peer Health, I met so many other people that had similar stories and basically, I found community.

Daly Haas became involved with Peer Health the summer before she started university after learning about the organization online during grade 12. What drew the third year music major in was that “it was a health-based club that promoted student wellness on campus.” Looking to pursue medicine in the future, this kind of collective was a song that she could play along to.

As a student facilitator for the Healthy Life group, she has become a more competent leader and has had the chance to step out of her comfort zone, take on greater initiatives, and interact with diverse groups of people. 

Recently, Healthy Life has spear-headed campaigns surrounding sexual health and healthy relationships. In the future, the group is hoping to do work relating to body positivity, music and general health.

The experiences Haas has acquired with Peer Health will be sure to follow her in her future endeavors: “Just learning the health knowledge, of course, is important for medicine,” she says. “But also learning how to relate to people on their own level and how to reach out to people through health outreach events in ways that address their concerns and their specific needs. And also just learning to communicate with people about health topics, I think that’ll be important.”

When I asked the one thing they wanted more people to know about Peer Health they all gave me similar answers: That it exists. Last semester, Peer Health provided incredible contributions to the campus community through initiatives such as the resilience campaign, STI testing clinic, weekly cooking classes, and Peer Listener Support to name a few. 

Peer Health and the space it inhabits – the USask Community Centre – is truly a gem here at the university. In a time where third spaces are disappearing, and we’re all looking to find and create new connections post the intense isolation era brought on by the pandemic, it serves as a readily accessible place available to all.

It’s fluid, dynamic and diverse with the simple mission of meeting the needs of students.

If you’re looking to get involved on campus, Peer Health is always welcoming of new volunteers and is appreciative of any amount of time you’re able to give, no matter how small. Even if you’re not looking to volunteer at the moment, drop by the community centre. A place with no expectations, stunning mosaic of incredible individuals, regular event’s, and maybe even your new third place.

To keep up to date with its various activities, you can follow Peer Health on Instagram @peerhealthusask