About this Module

Welcome to Health and Wellbeing! This module will provide you with general advice on how to prepare for the health and wellbeing-related challenges you may encounter while abroad. Integrating into your new environment will be much easier if you have an idea of what to expect, and how to deal with it before you leave the comfort and support of your home. It is important to remember that you are not alone in your study abroad journey. Many students have experienced the same worries and problems on their mobility, so we have put together some helpful tools and information to help you gather key information relating to your mobility and support your academic, social and cultural integration process.

Time Needed

4 hours across a year

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module you will be able to:

Recognise the potential impact of an international experience on your health and wellbeing.
Take preparatory steps to ensure that your health and wellbeing can be maintained while abroad.
Be mindful of tips for maintaining self-care abroad.
Identify and access resources and supports in your host country.
Be empathic with others and develop an open attitude towards cultural differences in many social situations.
Approach differences with curiosity, a positive attitude, and self-compassion.
Take perspective and understand the complexity of cultural elements that are important to others.
Develop your organisational approach to understand and plan how you spend your time abroad.

Target Audience

Students who are going to carry out a mobility abroad.

Module Structure

Step 1: Introduction.
Step 2: How does an international experience affect health and wellbeing?
Step 3: Preparing yourself.
Step 4: Safeguard health and wellbeing while abroad.

Keywords

Wellbeing: The state of being comfortable, healthy or happy
Physical health: The state of your physical body and how well it is operating - directly related to mental health as they influence each other
Mental health: Our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing - directly related to physical health as they influence each other
Travel insurance: A plan that protects you from certain financial risks and losses that can occur while traveling
European Health Insurance Card: A free card that gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland under the same conditions and at the same cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country; this is not an alternative to travel insurance
Vulnerability: The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally
Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another
Acculturation: An exchange process between people belonging to different cultural groups, which leads to cultural, linguistic, religious and psychological changes
Resilience: The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties

About the Developers

Veronica Coates (University of Edinburgh)
Anna Creery (University of Edinburgh)
Adriana Hołub-Palonka (Jagiellonian University)
Carlos Panek Soares de Araujo (Jagiellonian University)
Carolina González Madrigal (University of Granada)
Stella Landskroon (University of Amsterdam)
Angel Garmpi (University of Edinburgh)
Justine Seran (University of Edinburgh)
Chelsea Ferguson (University of Edinburgh)&
Jonli So (University of Amsterdam)
Eduardo Alias Gómez (University of Granada)
Shane Lordan (University College Dublin)
Natasza Gadowska (Student Testimonial)
Raluca Mitroiu (Student Testimonial)
Huiling Zhang (Student Testimonial)
Claudio Santagostini (University of Pavia)

About License and Version

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 international license

The European Commision's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Comission cannot be held resposible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Version 1.0.0