As a first step towards a more holistic approach to the development of undergraduate nursing science students at a South African Higher Education Institution, student wellness levels and their relationship to academic performance were explored. An exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used to obtain convenience samples of students across academic year levels. Wellness assessment data were collected using a newly developed South African Wellness Questionnaire for Higher Education. Group differences in wellness mean scores as well as the relationship between wellness profiles and academic performance categories were explored using descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques. A clear pattern of highest and lowest wellness dimension scores was found. The wellness profile of students assessed revealed physical and environmental wellness as the weaker areas, while group strengths pertained to social, emotional and spiritual wellness. Although no direct relationship between wellness profiles and academic performance was found, there were tentative indicators that students with higher levels of wellness performed better academically than those with medium wellness levels.

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure possible impacts of a salutogenic lifestyle education programme on wellness and academic outcomes in a group of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the first year of higher education. Setting: University in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was utilised to assess the relationship between wellness and academic outcomes. Data were gathered using the Wellness Questionnaire for Higher Education, a semi-structured researcher-generated questionnaire and transcripts of academic results. Data were analysed using SPSSv20 and NVIVOv8. Results: Findings revealed that all students showed modest improvements in overall wellness scores. A correlation was found between student wellness and academic success (r = .362, p = .049), which was stronger for students who gained the highest marks (r = .610, p = .004) and who made two to three lifestyle changes. Conclusion: A holistic, salutogenic, wellness education programme shows potential to increase student wellness, which may then translate into student academic success.

Objective: A critical evaluation of a salutogenic, wellness education programme was conducted with a group of first-year socioeconomically disadvantaged higher education students, in order to assess the value they placed on health information and wellness priorities. Methods: This study took a mixed-methods approach utilising a quantitative–qualitative design. Quantitative analysis regarding the values placed by the students on 22 aspects of health-related information and qualitative analysis of their health priorities drew on findings from a semi-structured researcher-generated questionnaire, administered pre-, post- and 15-week post-post-intervention. Setting: The setting was a higher education institution in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Participants were 34 first-year consumer science students, who engaged in a year-long, salutogenic wellness programme. Results: Findings revealed an increase in the participants’ value of health information for a number of wellness variables. Future planning, positive thinking and nutrition ranked high among wellness priorities, the reasons for which were disease prevention, as well as the impact of various aspects of health on participants’ future success. Conclusion: A holistic, salutogenic, wellness education programme increased student values for information with regard to a number of health variables.

The objective of this article is to reflect upon the relationships amongst health, disadvantage, educational opportunities, and higher education access and success. This is a reflective article taken from the literature review of a doctoral study on the relationship between health, access to, and success within, higher education. The importance of health in education and the practical implementation of programmes resulting in enhanced health and academic success amongst higher education students is reviewed. Literature for the doctoral study on which this reflection was based was sourced predominantly from Pub-Med Central, the U.S. National Institute of Health National Library of Medicine and The South African South-East Academic Library Services. From this discussion, the rationale for a holistic health promotion programme within the higher education setting, for students from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds, is given. The problem of educational failure of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education could be lessened by instituting a holistic health promotion programme within the first year of study. Evidence suggests that such a programme would have both health and educational advantages.