By: M. Dolores Cimini, PhD, University at Albany, SUNY

We know from the research literature on college student alcohol use that target populations such as first-year students, student-athletes, fraternity and sorority members, students mandated for alcohol policy violations, and students seeking health and counseling care for concerns unrelated to their alcohol use are often at highest risk for alcohol abuse and related negative consequences…and they are less likely to seek intervention for these issues.

We also know that the research literature and best practice guidelines state unequivocally that engaging students in screening and brief intervention addressing their alcohol use is associated with reductions in consumption and related consequences as well as the increased use of protective behaviors.

Since 2006, UAlbany’s STEPS Comprehensive Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Program, based on the BASICS model and designed to meet the distinct and complex needs of different kinds of students, has been delivering personalized feedback on alcohol use to each student who participates.

Some examples:

• Student-athletes are screened after team meetings, receiving information on alcohol use and athletic performance in their feedback profiles.
• First-year students participate in online screening within the first month of college, followed by a brief intervention that focuses on alcohol use as it relates to college adjustment. 
  

We are currently collecting data on the newest arm of our STEPS program designed for our fraternity and sorority members; here, we are focusing on factors such as alcohol use and fraternity and sorority reputation as well as the role of alcohol use in fraternity and sorority rituals. 

In the same way that we have worked to engage our students in alcohol screening and brief intervention, we have learned that it’s important to engage stakeholders, including service providers, coaches, advisors, first-year experience staff members, and faculty members, in the planning process and keep them informed of successes and challenges. Our stakeholders often underestimate their role in making a screening and brief intervention program successful, and they are always quite surprised and impressed to learn of the impact they have on our students. 

By 2009, when the program received the ACHA Best Practices in College Health Award, the program had reached more than 13,000 students. Four years later, our efforts are continuing to work: with more than 21,000 students screened for alcohol use to date, we have seen statistically significant reductions in alcohol use and associated negative consequences across each target population. 

Perhaps even more importantly, our students are providing positive feedback on the interventions. They appreciate how easily they can access and resonate with the issues that are on their minds.

The Virginia Commonwealth University’s Clicker Enhanced Social Norms Marketing program began in 2005 with the goal of reducing high-risk drinking and related harm. At the heart of this program is the recognition that presenting students with accurate information about their peers’ alcohol use reinforces healthy behaviors.

The social norms marketing campaign is improved through alcohol education sessions utilizing clicker technology. In the sessions, students use hand-held wireless devices that transmit personal responses to questions asked, and their responses are instantly displayed as graphs. This immediate feedback shows students the gap between their perception and the reality of actual alcohol use on campus. 

These sessions challenge participants to observe healthy behaviors rather than the unhealthy behaviors that often seem more visible. Data have demonstrated that students who participate in the clicker sessions have more accurate perceptions of normative alcohol use than those who do not attend a session and are more likely to limit their alcohol use. 

Because the program proved to have such positive impact on the decision‐making development of students, ACHA awarded it the Best Practices in College Health Award in the category of Health Education and Promotion Services in 2010. The success of the program spurred VCU’s Wellness Resource Center to explore a variety of other misperceptions and how these can be addressed in a similar fashion.

This fall,  through real-time clicker feedback, 1,867 incoming students were able to see that while most of them perceived that only 30% of Americans support LGBT people in being who they are, their own responses revealed that 89% of those freshman support LGBT people in being who they are.

Knowing the difference in perception versus reality is very useful, to both college health professionals and students, and that’s why we at VCU love our clickers. Anyone have other questions they have found helpful in making their campus healthier?