Social determinants of health are defined as non-medical conditions that affect a person's health, well-being, and quality of life. For students, social determinants of health like access to housing, school supplies, food security and financial stability can have a significant impact on their success in the classroom.
Educational institutions can provide gift cards for student resources to combat negative outcomes from social determinants of health. This can help level the academic playing field for low-income students and ensure they have the same ability to achieve academic excellence as their more affluent peers. This blog will discuss the ways gift cards can be leveraged to support remote learning, student engagement strategies and overall academic success.
Supporting remote learning
Since the pandemic, more remote learning options have become available as an alternative to traditional learning environments. In fact, it’s expected that the online learning industry has grown by more than 200% since the outbreak in 2020. As a result, there is a need to boost student engagement, build connection and community, and provide unique remote learning support to students.
Because educators don’t see students in person, there is less context for a student’s home situation and support system. Using gift cards to support remote learning can ensure students have the basic resources they need to be successful in a remote learning environment, such as a stable internet connection and adequate nutritious food.
Leveraging gift cards for individuals
There are two ways gift cards can be used in both remote and in-person educational settings: through broad institutional programs or more discreetly on an individual basis. Individual gift card distribution can help address situations where students are uncomfortable seeking resources or unaware of the resources available to them to combat negative outcomes from social determinants of health.
While distributing gift cards on an individual basis through academic advisors, education outreach coordinators (like guidance counselors), or even educators themselves can feel like a small gesture, the number of students who can benefit from the resources gift cards provide is large.
At colleges across the United States, students often lack basic necessities. 36% of students attending college are food insecure. Providing a gift card to Walmart, Amazon.com or Grubhub could ensure a student has enough to eat and can focus on their academic work. 17% of college students lack healthcare coverage and 65% of students graduate with an average of $29,200 in debt, which can limit their ability to buy critical supplies for school, like books. A gift card to brands like Staples, Office Depot® OfficeMax®, or Barnes & Noble can change a student's college experience just by allowing them to get the things they need to succeed in school without adding on to accumulated education debt.
Handling these situations discreetly with individual direct distribution of gift cards allows educators to build trust with students and engagement between students and their teachers and schools. Solutions like the Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform streamline bulk ordering and fulfillment and provides the breadth of brands required to meet students’ needs. When distributing gift cards individually through advisors or academic outreach staff, the Engage2Reward™ Card Activation Module is a secure solution for ensuring students receive their support on the spot.
Institutional gift card programs
An alternative to individual gift card programs in educational settings is building more public institutional gift card programs. These often have broader reach, and can align more closely with student engagement strategies, but are less discreet for students looking to claim resources.
Institutional programs are widely advertised within the organization. They include criteria for gift card qualification and the brands offered. Students will likely need to actively claim resources. This means they should contact the program administrator instead of waiting for an educator or advisor to reach out.
These programs can increase reach but need to be administered in a way where students who qualify feel safe claiming gift cards for needs that can be sensitive like food insecurity, or the inability to pay for school supplies or books.
The Engage2Reward Platform uniquely supports these institutional programs and addresses social determinants of health by offering unique features, like a variety of over 200 top brand names, and bulk delivery to accommodate large scale programs at every stage of their growth.
Make an impact
As educational institutions work to combat social determinants of health, it is important to recognize that they can have a real impact on academic outcomes for students at every level of their education. Using resources like gift card programs can help bridge the gap between what students can afford and what they need to be successful in school, whether that is food, school supplies, or other basic needs.
Building programmatic gift card programs, rather than one-off resource drives, provides students with dependable and reliable resources. Ready to make a difference in your students' lives? Register your organization with the Engage2Reward Platform today.
