Evaluation of brief alcohol abuse strategies.

Abstract

The purpose of the evaluation was to examine the process that two campuses went through as a result of implementing alcohol abuse strategies. Specifically, the evaluation focused on the implementation and administrative experiences of those charged with preventing alcohol abuse on each campus. The results suggest that the evidence-based prevention grant program is a valuable tool for pushing campuses with prevention infrastructure forward.

An institution's infrastructure is a key element in the successful adoption of new practices.

Introduction

The challenge of institutions of higher education ameliorating the harm associated with high-risk student behavior is illuminated by a lawsuit claiming negligence by the University of Wisconsin--LaCrosse. A UW-LaCrosse student passed away on April 9, 2003 after falling in the Mississippi River following a night of heavy drinking on his twenty-first birthday (2004, August 31). The student's parents are suing claiming the University encourages heavy drinking through its programs and policies. The University had already engaged in alcohol education along with programs such as safe rides to and from local businesses late at night. A conundrum emerges for the university. The university supported safe rides and other programs to help ensure the safety of students, yet stands accused of aiding heavy alcohol use due to the existence of a program that helps intoxicated students return to campus. This situation illuminates how it is no longer enough for institutions to do something, without evidence that an action functions to positively ameliorate harm associated with heavy alcohol use.

Prominent media attention and scholarship point toward alcohol abuse on college campuses as a pressing public health concern laced by institutions of higher education (Wechsler, Dowdall & Maenner, 1998). As indicated in the case of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, university leaders are charged with addressing student alcohol use due both to public health concerns and increasing legal liability (Bickel & Lake, 2001). The problem of student alcohol use is displayed by findings that there is increasing heavy, abusive alcohol use by college students and in the assertion that up to 1,400 college students die each year due to alcohol related incidents (NIAAA, 2002; Hingston, Heeren, Zakocs, Kopstein, & Wechsler, 2002). Most concerning is the finding that students who attend college see an increase in heavy use that is not equaled by their non-college attending peers (O'Malley & Johnston, 2002). The negative consequences academically, socially and individually have a vast impact on the culture of what it is to be a college student (Perkins, 2002). Equipping university leaders to address student alcohol use means having them understand the human capital lost by college students related to alcohol use and providing them with tools to ameliorate the associated harm (Powell & Wechsler, 2003).

Literature Review