Staff and students at NRC can understand and manage their health and wellbeing through self-help reading in a new initiative.
The Read Yourself Well project will allow free access to an extensive collection of health and wellness related books, recommended and written by wellness experts, doctors and best-selling authors.
Northern Regional College has launched this joint initiative with Northern Health and Social Care Trust.
Titles in the range will give staff and students at the college an opportunity to learn more about a variety of health issues including anxiety, grief, type 2 diabetes, coeliac disease and many other long-term conditions.
The full collection will be available in the college libraries at the Ballymena, Magherafelt and Newtownabbey campuses. In addition, a selection of the titles will be in eBook format and accessible online 24/7.
Angela Dynes, Library Manager at Northern Regional College said reading has many positive benefits and with access to this highly regarded collection, staff and students can also discover new ways to keep well.
Welcoming the initiative, Hugh Nelson, Head of Community Wellbeing, said the Northern Health and Social Care Trust is delighted to have worked closely with Northern Regional College to support the expansion of the Read Yourself Well scheme.
He added: “This new collection offers free access to a wide range of health and wellbeing information for people to take away and read at a time that suits them.”
The Read Yourself Well initiative is a tangible result of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Northern Regional College and Northern Health and Social Care Trust. The MoU aims to promote greater co-operation and collaboration between the two organisations in areas of mutual importance and interest, such as education and health promotion.
Jenny Small, Northern Regional College’s Vice Principal for Performance and Development, said Read Yourself Well is an example of how the MoU can benefit both signatories.
“Both the college and the Trust have a rich pool of knowledge, talent and skills and we are committed to initiatives like Read Yourself Well that allow us to access and share resources,” she added.