Lander University responds to pandemic with health promotion degree, impact survey

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Lander University will introduce a new Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Wellness next August to ready students for an expected spike in home health awareness needs following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Wellness degree will provide a solid foundation to prepare our graduates to work as health educators,” Holisa Wharton, dean of the William Preston Turner School of Nursing at Lander, said in a news release. “With a forecasted job growth increase rate of 16%, this new Lander degree offering is definitely meeting a need.”

The degree will prepare students hoping to launch careers in health education or worksite wellness coaching and will qualify them to pursue a graduate degree in public health or sit the certified health education specialist exam, according to the release.

Coursework will include statistics, anatomy, physiology, health education, program planning, implementation and evaluation classes along with the social components of community health, epidemiology, health promotion and disease prevention.

Separately in response to the pandemic, researchers from Lander University and College of Charleston’s business schools are conducting a survey until June 15 on the impact of COVID-19 on the state’s restaurants. The research team will report their research within the next 90 days.

“Our goal for this collaborative research is to explore operators’ current economic situations and perceptions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, its effect on business operations, and whether owners will be able to maintain their business for the current and long term under current and future social-distancing guidelines and regulations,” Michael Brizek, interim dean of Lander’s College of Business, said in the release.