Trinity College Dublin: Healthy Trinity launches its first Impact Report

Healthy Trinity has delivered its first Impact Report, detailing the latest projects to support health in the College community and events and interventions that reached more than 2,000 people. Highlights included: upgraded bike parking; funding for a European mental and physical health programme, installation of condom dispensers and Trinity’s first ever misuse of drugs policy.

Trinity’s Provost Linda Doyle said:

“The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us all to take stock of our physical, mental and social wellbeing and has reminded us how we rely on one another. I welcome the launch of this report as a demonstration of the commitment right across the Trinity community to the health and wellbeing of all. Investment in education is investment in health. We urge Government to increase investment in further and higher education as we know this improves public health and promotes health equity. In fact, by the age of 30, those with the highest level of education can expect to live four years longer than those with the lowest. Investment in education also alleviates the burden on health and social services and, most importantly, on the people who use them.”

Healthy Trinity is a cross-university collaboration of more than 100 partners drawn from academic staff, professional services staff and students.

In 2020/21 it grew its social media followers to 5,895 as it published six papers on various aspects of College health. These found, for example, that more than half of the smokers at Trinity start the habit when they are over 18; and that 75 per cent of students who drink alcohol also binge-drink. The Healthy Eating group discovered barriers to healthy eating on campus and the Workplace Group found that, though staff were resilient during COVID-19’s first lockdown, wellbeing was low.