Digital Wellness Blog

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School

University of Nebraska, Omaha *

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2500

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Health Science

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by irvinehy

APA Citation of Article Akinola, M. (2023, May 5). Alumnus examines the impact technology has on our well-being . St. Olaf College. https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/alumnus-examines-the-impact-technology-has- on-our-well-being An article published by St. Olaf College, Alumnus Examines the Impact Technology has on Our Well-being examines the opinions of St. Olaf class of 2017 graduate, Tyler Rice, who is also a co- founder of the Digital Wellness Institute. Rice began as a consultant for United Healthcare where he noticed trends in mental healthcare trends which enticed him to take many of the country’s largest companies through predictive claims engines, where he found that mental health was the number one spend 99% of the time. These results puzzled Rice. After all, if companies are spending so much money on mental healthcare claims, why is the mental health crisis continuing to rise? Looking at his own habits, Rice realized how much of his days were spent on a screen: working behind a screen all day to come home and spend several more hours behind a screen completing schoolwork or scrolling endlessly on social media. Rice says “I think the feeling of being always ‘on’ and the compulsion to live our lives through screens is actually leading to a breakdown in community, increased rates of mental health issues, lower rates of productivity, and impaired sleep and physical health.” (Akinola, 2023). Rice and his team at the Digital Wellness Institute work to create methods of thinking about and measuring digital wellness as well as the impact technology has on peoples’ health and happiness. They are working on creating the first set of standards for Digitally Well Workplaces and Digitally Well Colleges and Universities. The Digital Wellness Institute often uses surveys to get individuals’ perspectives on their usage of technology. Rice also discusses the emails regarding alcohol abuse awareness training and sexual assault prevention training during his first year at St. Olaf College and says that institutions should be teaching students how to manage their digital wellbeing also. Rice says the building community is extremely important and that experience is not the same virtually. Having a supportive community can be beneficial for students. Rice is incredibly passionate about social impact and says “Through digital wellness, we are not only addressing the mental health crisis, but empowering students—and individuals of all ages—to learn how to maximize the benefits of technology while mitigating its harms.” (Akinola, 2023). I really appreciated what Rice had to say about digital wellbeing. I found it astonishing that screen-times increased five hours per day per person during the COVID-19 pandemic (Akinola, 2023). Astonished, and yet somehow not surprised. As Rice points out, so much of our lives are influenced by the use of technology. While I don’t work a traditional nine to five but rather in the restaurant industry, I do spend a decent amount of my days staring at point-of-sale screens. I am also a big reader, but do most of that on a Kindle, adding to my screen-time everyday. Being a full-time student means working on screens completing assignments, readings, and research. Typically, when I’m not doing any of those things, I am wasting time watching television or YouTube videos or scrolling through social media. I think many of us can be guilty of this but, as Rice pointed out, too much screen-time can be detrimental to our health. Finding a good balance and using technology in a positive way can help people be digitally “well.” I also

found what Rice had to say about implementing digital wellness training to incoming college students as sexual assault and alcohol abuse prevention trainings are. As a recent transfer to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I completed alcohol abuse prevention training and sexual assault prevention training relatively recently, and I think it’s really interesting that we aren’t equipping students with tools to be digitally responsible in a time where technology consumes so much of our lives. Learning how to use technology responsibly and maintain a healthy balance of using screens and staying off of them is proven to be beneficial to mental health and overall happiness and is a skill we should encourage people to take as seriously as alcohol abuse prevention!

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