The Ultimate Silo-busting Win Win

Health Culture Foundation’s FAQ for Campus Marketing and Communication Professionals


When Campus MarCom and Wellbeing teams join forces, they can make a real difference—not only for student health, but also for how your campus shows up to prospective students, alumni, and the community.

MarCom teams need authentic stories and Do One Thing in collaboration with your Campus Wellbeing Department is the best win win possible: you help students in their health and your colleagues in their core job functions and mission.

Both departments have resources that the other can use with just a little catalyzing. It’s the Health Culture Foundation’s mission to help you create this bridge.

You need content—authentic stories from students that show real moments of care, transformation, and support from their campus.

With nearly 84% of Gen Z students identifying mental health as a core part of their identity its a great topic to engage with.

Research shows that nearly 60% of prospective students consider mental-health services a very important factor when choosing a universitytand many say their perception of a school’s wellbeing culture directly influences their decision to apply or enroll.

Partnering with wellbeing departments gives marcomm access to genuine content from teams who may struggle to produce polished campaigns but are highly motivated to collaborate and already have dedicated staff for student outreach.

Sleep is the foundation of academic success, emotional balance, and physical health. Yet most college students average only 6–7 hours of sleep per night—well below the 7–9 hours recommended for optimal functioning.

Over 60% report poor sleep quality, which is linked to a ~25% decline in academic performance (CDC, 2014), higher stress, and increased rates of depression and anxiety.

Because so many students experience disrupted or inadequate sleep, it’s a nearly universally relatable and evidence-based entry point for wellbeing campaigns—stigma-free, easy to engage with, and proven to improve focus, resilience, and retention.

The Okanagan Charter is a framework adopted by hundreds of higher education institutions worldwide to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, operations, and academic life. It calls on schools to become “health-promoting campuses,” aligning policies, environments, and community partnerships around wellbeing, sustainability, and equity.

For marketing and communications leaders, the Okanagan Charter reframes wellbeing as a core brand and strategic value, not just a student services issue. It encourages institutions to:

  • Communicate wellness and belonging as part of their institutional identity.
  • Align messaging with values like inclusion, sustainability, and community health.
  • Collaborate across departments to show how the campus environment supports thriving students and staff.

 In short, it moves “health” from the margins of student life to the center of the university’s story.

Acting as if your campus has signed the Charter positions your institution as forward-looking and values-driven. It signals to prospective students, parents, and partners that your school prioritizes wellbeing as part of academic excellence. The approach also fosters internal alignment between marketing, student affairs, and academic leadership—helping you tell a more authentic and mission-centered story.

It also just so happens that it’s exactly what prospective students are looking for – see above.

We organized Sleep Awareness Month in 2025 and we will be supporting that in a much bigger way in 2026.

We’ve also just launched Do One Thing a campaign which is meant to be plug-and-play for campuses: an evidence-based campaign that doesn’t add to folks’ workload. 

College student mental health has reached crisis levels. According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2022), more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health condition during the 2020–2021 academic year. In another national survey, almost three-quarters of students reported moderate or severe psychological distress (National College Health Assessment, American College Health Association, 2021).

  • Effective social media campaigns have repeatedly been shown to create positive behavioral change and wellbeing offices can achieve their mission better with access to social channels marcomm controls.
  • We have winning formulas that will generate great content and help your students thrive.
  • We have ready nearly off-the-shelf campaigns and playbooks which can be customized for a campus.
  • This first campaign will unlock collaboration for future campaigns. It is nearly impossible for any one wellbeing department to create great campaigns on all the issues they need to cover. We are unlocking the power of networks by helping campuses share their best campaigns and tactics with other campuses,  Assets, guidance Leverage to create content that can pass the quality test for major social channels on campus.


Contact us to discuss a partnership with your campus

We can work with you to efficiently assess if your health & wellbeing folks can get on board and make sure to save you time.

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