Obviously, to anybody out there who had a sensible grandmother none of the following will come as news ! But that said, it is good to see commonsense creeping onto campus. Eg, eat properly, do a little bit of exercise and get some sleep and maybe you’ll be able to operate a bit better
Naples Daily News reports
It is possible to minimize the stress and decline in well-being that can develop from the academic rigors of law school.
Ave Maria School of Law has launched a wellness program that includes the nationally acclaimed Complete Health Improvement Program, CHIP, to improve diet and nutrition.
A 5,000-square foot fitness complex is being built on the law school’s North Naples campus through an anonymous donor’s gift of $2 million. The complex is targeted to open in early August, said Kevin Cieply, president and dean of the law school.
The nutrition program debuted earlier this year with a handful of faculty and will be rolled out this fall to students, said Heidi Roderick, the law school’s director of fitness and wellness.
The independent Catholic law school, which moved in 2009 from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to North Naples, has 250 students. The law school has 66 employees, of which 26 are faculty. In addition, there are 26 adjunct professors.
“It just fits into our mission, we are different than other law schools because of the spirituality that we bring into the education of our students,” Cieply said about adding wellness programs.
What had been missing of the “mind, spirit and body” connection was the “body” element for physical health, he said.
The American Bar Association and its Florida affiliate have developed initiatives to address the trend of law school students and practicing attorneys suffering from depression, burn out, substance abuse and divorce, he said.
“It’s high stress, long hours and they don’t have a lot of time for the work-life balance,” Cieply said.
In 2016, the American Bar Association, through its Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, conducted a study with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation regarding substance abuse.
The study found 21% of attorneys qualified as problem drinkers. That’s higher than 13% for other highly educated professionals. The study also found 28% of attorneys experience depression.
The American Bar Association in 2017 launched a task force on well-being to develop recommendations to assist attorneys. After one month of a campaign to target substance abuse and mental health, 25 of the nation’s largest law firms signed a pledge to support the campaign, according to the ABA Journal.
Law schools experienced similar issues, according to a 2016 study by the Dave Nee Foundation that found depression increased among law school students as they progressed in school.
The foundation was launched in 2006 after the suicide of David Nee in 2005 during his third year of law school at Fordham University.
The foundation, which works to eliminate stigma associated with depression, found in its analysis that 27% percent of law students report being depressed after their first semester.
The rate increased to 34% after two semesters and stood at 40% after three years.
Ave Maria law school hired Roderick in November 2018 as its director of health and wellness. She launched the law school’s first class in the Complete Health Improvement Program, CHIP, this past January with 11 faculty and staff members.
Founded in 1988 by Dr. Hans Diehl, a national expert on lifestyle medicine, CHIP is a 12-week program to change eating and nutrition practices to plant-based food to improve health and reduce risk of chronic disease. The program has been used by 80,000 people in the U.S., often with employers bringing the program to their workforce.
Ave Maria’s law school is the first law school to sponsor it for faculty and soon for students this fall, Roderick said.
The group collectively lost 47 pounds and there was a drop of 448 points combined in triglyceride (fat in the blood) levels, along with 10 participants lowering their blood pressure.
Getting law students to enroll this fall means getting past a mindset, she said.
“They think they don’t have the time,” Roderick said, adding that the hour-long class with demonstrations for preparing plant-based meals will be held during the lunch hour on campus.
Studies show students want to know how to cook the right food, she said.
“They are on a budget,” she said.
There is no cafeteria on campus, so the students are on their own for meals, Cieply said. There are future plans for a cafeteria.
Once the fitness center is finished in August, Roderick will be incorporating group classes, 5K training and other events. Two covered basketball courts and a small soccer field are planned to be built next to the fitness center.
