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Interview with Stacy Andes,
Director of Health Promotion Fresh@News: Stacy, Can you tell
us a little about the Office of Health Promotion? Stacy Andes: The American College Health Association (2005) states
that “student learning is at the core of the higher education academic
mission.” Health Promotion serves this mission by empowering
students to create healthy learning environments. Health is
defined as both individual and community-based, encompassing six dimensions
(social, physical, intellectual, cultural, emotional, and spiritual), and
existing as a balance between the mind, body and spirit. The Office of Health
Promotion fulfills this mission by providing evidence-based
health resources through the website and resource center; facilitating
opportunities for students to build skills that allow them to make healthy
lifestyle choices through campus-wide programs and the “healthy
community” learning community for first year students; and encouraging
students to develop a sense of personal responsibility for their own health
and the health of the community by engaging students in internship and peer
education experiences. Fresh@News: What are some of the
highlights of the fall semester? SA: The most important highlight this fall is the new
office name: Health Promotion. Many students, staff and faculty agree
that the name is much easier to remember and it better reflects what we do
every day – promote health! In addition, the following initiatives are
new and exciting this fall: 1) HealthBytes
delivers health to your inbox! Just like the Wildcat Newswire, you can
subscribe to have each month’s issue emailed directly to you or you can
access archived issues throughout the year by visiting www.villanova.edu/healthpromotion.
Each month will feature healthy tips, resources, programs and highlights that
will help you to maintain balance. 2)
The Health Promotion Resource Center is now connected to Falvey’s
library system! Writing a paper or doing a presentation on a hot topic in
college student health? Concerned about a friend or family member’s
health? Interested in a particular health topic yourself? Check out
our various resources, including books, DVDs, videos, CDs, and other multimedia
materials, by logging on or stopping by the Office of Health Promotion on the
first floor of the Health Services Building! 3)
The Office of Health Promotion staff has been hard at work updating the website
to create a more user-friendly web environment and to provide up-to-date,
accurate, interactive resources and information with regard to relationships,
healthy body, self-care, substance safety, and sexual health. Make it
your first stop for more information about health…go to www.villanova.edu/healthpromotion! 4)
This year…we want our students to GO TO HEALTH! You will see our
new slogan on all of our publicity, giveaways, event information, website and
anything else produced by the staff, peer educators and interns of Health
Promotion this year. Our goal for 2007-08 is to let students know who we
are, where we are and the services and resources that we provide that are
different and complementary to both the Counseling and Student Health
Centers! We want Villanova students to go to health by visiting our
website, stopping by the office, and/or giving us a call with questions and
feedback. Fresh@News: How do students use
Health Promotion? SA: We have an open
door policy at Health Promotion, so that any student can feel free to walk in.
They can take brochures about particular issues, or speak to a staff member
about their different concerns. The website is always updated and available for
the students to use for researching different health issues or informing
themselves of our upcoming events. In fact students often visit the office when
they are working on a paper and need more resources. Many students also attend
the programs we offer, which are held both in the office and around campus.
Most recently, Health Promotion has recruited student interns who are
interested in gaining experience in event planning, website development, and
film production. We encourage students to generate their own ideas about
how they might get involved and reach out to us with their ideas. Some of
our best programs and initiatives have come from our students! Fresh@News: Can you explain the
AlcoholEDU for College course? SA: AlcoholEDU is an
online educational program that has made an impact on the decisions of our
students regarding alcohol. It is a 2.5-3 hour web-based alcohol prevention
program being used at more than 350 colleges and universities around the
country. The program uses the latest prevention techniques and science-based
research to educate students about the impact of alcohol on the mind and body.
Whether or not your son/daughter drinks alcohol, AlcoholEDU for College will
empower your son/daughter to make well-informed decisions about alcohol and
help him or her better cope with the drinking behavior of peers. The program is
mandatory for all freshmen students. Fresh@News: What is the purpose
of requiring all freshmen to participate? SA: Villanova takes
alcohol education very seriously. We utilize a 4-tier approach to educating our
first-year students. First, your son or daughter received education
regarding alcohol first at orientation, where students participated in a
simulated party followed by a comprehensive discussion of many issues relating
to alcohol. Next, peer educators follow up in the residence halls with
smaller programs that discuss the connections between alcohol use and sexual
decision-making. Thirdly, AlcoholEDU for College is required for all
freshmen students to ensure that our students are gaining a baseline of
knowledge about alcohol and the way in which their decisions about alcohol use
can impact their college experience. Lastly, the peer educators visit
the residence halls throughout the year to distribute informational posters and
to check in with freshmen about their Villanova experience and to answer any
questions that they might have about health services and resources that are
available to them. Fresh@News: What are some main
goals of educating freshmen about alcohol? SA:
Our main
goal is to provide them with enough current information so that they can make
healthy choices. The key here is safety. We want our students to be as safe as
possible and to avoid the negative effects of either their own personal use or
friends’ use of alcohol. Some negative consequences include relationship
issues, academic struggles, family problems, financial difficulties or health
disturbances. Fresh@News: Do you think many
freshmen are aware of the dangers of alcohol prior to completing the AlcoholEDU
for College course? SA: Often, freshmen have
the mentality of feeling invincible, which is normal. However, these invincible
feelings may lead them to make poor choices that they feel will not impact
them. So, even though they are aware of the risks of alcohol they cannot hear
it enough. Freshmen also tell us that even though they had alcohol education in
high school, they have learned more information regarding alcohol after
completing AlcoholEdu for College. The online format is more attractive to
students and is an easily accessible way to further their knowledge on the
dangers of alcohol. Fresh@News: Do the students
retain the information that they learned from the course? SA: There is a pre-test
and post-test within the course, as well as a 30-day follow up to assess how
much of the material was remembered. At that 30-day mark, the students have
shown that they still have a high rate of the knowledge previously attained. I
dialogue a lot with upperclass students, and have discovered that they are much
more in tune with the issues, especially health concerns, since the program has
been implemented. The students understand the importance of maintaining a
healthy lifestyle and what excessive drinking could do to their health. Fresh@News: What is
Villanova’s approach toward underage drinking? SA: We uphold the PA
law. We do not promote any kind of underage drinking whatsoever. As with most
universities, Villanova expects its’ students want to make good decisions
around alcohol. We provide the students with the information on how to do so.
The university’s primary goal is education. We are not punitive, although
fines are attached to many of the violations so that students understand the
seriousness of their behavior. As a university, we understand that students may
experiment with alcohol, so it is our responsibility to take the necessary
measures to inform them of the dangers so that this mistake can be prevented in
the future. Fresh@News: What would you
advise parents to say when speaking to their son/daughter about college
drinking? SA: It is important to
have an open dialogue with your son/daughter. During fall break, talk to them
candidly about what they are seeing at college, how they are reacting to it and
how it is making them feel. A lot of students don’t drink, but see it and
are exposed to it. Parents should reinforce that there are a lot of resources
on campus if their son/daughter feels like s/he is having issues with alcohol
or is nervous being in social situations that might involve alcohol. Some
resources on campus available for mentoring are the Residence Assistants,
Counseling Center, Student Health Center, Health Promotion, Public Safety, the
Assistant Dean for Alcohol and Drug Intervention, and their professors. College student alcohol use is a national
concern at college and university campuses. Despite the best health
promotion efforts, we know that students are still prone to making ill-informed
decisions that are detrimental to their college experience in many ways.
An overwhelming majority of college students (88 %), including those under the
legal drinking age, have used alcohol (Johnston, 2001). Recent data indicates
that 65% of college students had a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) equal to
or greater than .08 the last time they “partied” or socialized
(ACHA-NCHA, 2004). Furthermore, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism’s, (NIAAA) report, A Call to Action: Change the Culture of
Drinking at U.S. Colleges indicates that 1,400 college students between the
ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries,
including motor vehicle crashes and that 500,000 students between the ages of
18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol (Hingson
et al., 2002). Additionally, many college students are
making poor choices under the influence of alcohol that impact their sexual
health. More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are survivors
of alcohol-related sexual assault and rape and over 400,000 students had
unprotected sex (Hingson et al, 2002). Villanova students are not immune
to these same issues and concerns, and it is critical that they are utilizing
information, services and resources that will allow them to make more informed,
healthy decisions about their health. Fresh@News: What resources are
available to parents? SA: Our website, www.villanova.edu/healthpromotion
is a great resource available to the parents. They certainly can speak to any
staff member in the office if they are concerned about an issue their
son/daughter is facing. If we cannot handle the problem ourselves, we have a
referral network and can direct parents to the appropriate area. Also, parents
can take the AlcoholEDU for College program themselves (see instructions
below). We encourage this because it will give parents an understanding of what
their son or daughter is experiencing. They could also have a conversation with
their child about the material presented in the program. With their active
participation, parents can reinforce the information. Instructions
for AlcoholEdu: |