Alcohol Consumption in Mount Union University Camps Among Students Who Are Under the Age of 21 - Case Study Example

Program Plan and Evaluation: Alcohol Consumption in Mount Union Camps Among Who Are Under the Age of 21 Years Program Plan and Evaluation: Alcohol Consumption in Mount Union University Camps Among Students Who Are Under the Age of 21 Years Introduction Program planning in healthcare entails deciding the next course of action; what should be done and by whom, where, and when, based on the assessment plan. The needs assessment at the Mount Union University came to a conclusion that there was need for interventions to arrest the issue of underage alcohol consumption (those aged below 21 years) at the campus. This was justified by data from other national surveys that show a marked increase in incidences where those below the age of 21 are increasingly taking alcohol. This article provides a program plan for implementing the health intervention on underage drinking at the Mount Union University. This program plan is developed based on the logic model. The Logic Model is tool for planning and implementing programs that can be used in a wide variety of situations, and is suitable for implementing the underage drinking health issue at the University (Mount Union). The Logic Model has been chosen due to its ease of use as well as flexibility. A template for describing what should be included in the program, the activities to be involved, the targeted participants, the outcomes of the intervention, and the long term impacts and consequences of the program are also described is provided by the Logic Model. In addition, the Logic Model also offers a means for evaluating and analyzing external factors that have a bearing on the success of the program and assumptions in the program. The Logic Model offers a suitable means for developing extensive program goals and to develop grant proposals; there are grants available for this program, so the Logic Model offers an opportunity to develop a purpose driven grant proposal plan. The Logic Model offers a basis for the evaluating the success of a program as well since the expected accomplishments and outcomes are clearly defined when the Model is used. Evidence based resources will be used in this program plan. Program plan Underage drinking at Mount Union University Program Plan INPUTS OUTPUTS OUTCOMES – IMPACT Activities Participation Short Medium Long Term Under age drinking at the University What to be invested Time; Will need three weeks to undertake the assessment, including Questionnaire administration Staff: The office of the Registrar to ascertain student numbers for those under 21 years of age Volunteers: Drawn from the stakeholders, volunteers will aid in administering questionnaires and creating awareness as well as contributing ideas Money: for communication and creating awareness for the program Materials Equipment Technology Partners Activities Small workshops to develop plan Meetings with stakeholders to gain widespread support Facilitation and creating awareness Assessments of progress at various stages Conducting interviews to ascertain the situation; will include knowing under age students at risk of alcohol use, those using alcoholic products, and problem drinkers Creating awareness and counseling Who the program will reach The entire University population Students below 21 years Stakeholders as listed in the Needs assessment document The wider community around the campus Reactions Short term results Learning Establish the level of alcohol use among students below 21 years of age Create Awareness Knowledge: educating the risk group Attitudes: help change attitudes of the students, the stakeholders, and society at large on underage drinking Create interventions Monitor interventions’ effectiveness The expected medium term results Action Behavior: inspire and monitor change in attitudes Practice: continuous monitoring and evaluation Decisions made based on progress; the strategies can be changed based on their effectiveness Policies implemented to reduce and eradicate underage drinking Social action by stakeholders; warnings on alcoholic packages against sale to underage students The ultimate impact(s) Comprehensive Achievements Social change in attitudes not to condone underage drinking Reduction in the number of underage alcohol users Reduction or elimination of the number of underage students starting to, or experimenting with alcohol Counseling and rehabilitation of problem drinkers Assumptions 1) the stakeholders will be willing to Participate 2) The rest of the student body will Lend their support 3) Funding will be availed for the program 4) There will be no extra costs to the Underage students in terms of rehabilitation, Counseling or awareness interventions (they will not be required to pay extra fees) Table I: Logical Model Program Plan. The first step in implementing an intervention program will be to conduct an assessment of the prevalence of alcohol use and abuse among students aged below 21 years at the University using questionnaires. The questionnaires will be self administered, while interview questions will be conducted on a face to face basis. The students to be interviewed will be selected randomly from the total population of 1537 aged below 21 years; a sample size of at least ten percent will be used to represent the total student population aged below 2 years. Randomization will be used to offer each member of the target population an equal chance for selection. The randomized selection will give greater representation of the survey results of the total student population below 21 years and will help reduce or eliminate selection bias. The survey results will be used to develop effective intervention programs, and the sample size must reflect the total population so that the intervention measures are effective and are able to address the problem effectively. Based on the results of the survey and questionnaire, intervention measures will be developed, in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders. For those at risk of alcohol use, for example, due to family history or alcohol use by family members, counseling will be done on the dangers of alcohol use. Programs will be developed based on the survey results aimed at creating awareness among stakeholders, the target group, and the entire student community as well as the surrounding community. The intervention measures will be developed based on the assessment; those at risk will have a different approach, same for those already using alcohol, and those with drinking problems. Those already taking alcohol will have targeted programs to help them reduce their consumption and use of alcoholic products, with the aim of making them quit, at least in the short term. Those at risk will be aggressively targeted so they do not begin in the first place through focused workshops and awareness campaigns. This will be done in conjunction with stakeholders such as retailers and wholesalers at the university and around the university requiring university students to show an ID before they can be sold alcoholic products. Problem drinkers will undergo special counseling and rehabilitation programs, at no extra cost from the University Social Health Services department. Their cases will be treated as medical and psychological conditions requiring medical intervention rather than punitive actions. The expected outcomes of the intervention measures are divided into short term, medium term, and long term outcomes. The outcomes are listed in Table I above. Environmental factors that have an effect on underage drinking will also be addressed, with measures such as limiting the advertising of alcoholic products within the University premises. The program plan activities and actions also require evaluation to assess their impact, measure progress, and implement measures to correct the situation and improve or update intervention programs, if need be. These will be conducted based on a program evaluation plan. Program evaluation plan An evaluation plan will guide this intervention at each step during the evaluation process and will help decide the kind of information required by the stakeholders and the manager(s). the evaluation plan helps avoid resource and time wastage by defining the information that need to be collected/ gathered. This program evaluation plan has been developed based on four main steps/ processes; Program goals and objectives clarification Evaluation questions development Evaluation methods development Timeline for evaluation setup Program goals and objectives clarification The program goals and objectives of this health intervention program include: Establishing the total student population at Mount Union University Establishing the exact number of students that are aged 21 years or below at the University Develop an effective assessment plan to determine the need for interventions to be initiated to arrest, reduce, or prevent alcohol consumption by students aged below 21 years Develop effective questions/ questionnaires to establish the prevalence of alcohol use/ abuse among Mount Union University students below the age of 21 years Select a sample population and administer the questions Analyze the questionnaire responses statistically to verify their suitability for use in developing interventions Draw up a program plan Monitor progress and outcomes, based on the desired outcomes Evaluation questions Planning and implementation questions Who are the participants and do they suit the purposes of the assessment and intended intervention? Are the participants diverse enough? Do the participants accurately represent the rest of the populations (students aged below 21 years)? Have the participants stayed with the program at all phases? How many, or what percentage of the population require intervention services/ measures? Is the student population, stakeholders, and local population in agreement that the program will suit local needs? These questions will be answered through a monitoring and evaluation system; for instance, in selecting the sample size, the target is to have at least ten percent of participants from the target population (154 students below age 21). The achievement of this goal will be evaluated by determining the number of targeted participants that actually responded to the assessment questionnaire. Evaluating goals and objectives attainment The number of targeted participants that actually responded to the assessment questions Has the number of students at risk, using, or having problems with alcohol consumption been established? Is the number that requires intervention sufficient to justify the intended intervention measures? These questions are intended to determine how well the initiative has met its objectives and goals and will be measured using goal attainment scaling and surveying whether the community is satisfied about the benefits of such a program. Impact on the participants Has answering the survey questions changed your outlook on alcohol use by students aged below 21 years? Do you think getting counseling for problem drinking is helpful to you? Do you think underage drinking is a serious social problem? Did you experience anything negative while participating in the assessment and initiatives against underage alcohol use? These questions will be answered by conducting surveys on participants on their satisfaction with the goals of the initiative, behavioral surveys, and satisfaction with the initiatives’ intended outcomes. Impact Has the initiative made an impact on the community? Has the initiative resulted in negative outcomes? What are costs of the initiative, vis a vis its implementation cost? These questions will be evaluated based on numbers; how many students are still problem drinkers, for example, will determine the impact the initiative has on the community. Methods for evaluation The evaluation will be undertaken using the monitoring and feedback method where process measures will be undertaken, as well as observational systems and outcome measures. Process measures will indicate the actions taken to implement the initiative such as conducting a needs assessment questionnaire. Observational system includes initiatives to keep track of the initiative while it is in progress, for instance measuring the number of students in rehabilitation and counseling programs, number of awareness campaigns, and the number of underage students that give up alcohol or reduce their intake. A goal attainment report will also be used as a means for evaluating the initiative; have the initiatives’ objectives and goals been met?, how many students that are below 21 years and had drinking problems have stuck with their rehabilitation plan and quit or reduced drinking/ dependency drinking?. Key participants will also be interviewed; the social health services department will be surveyed on underage drinkers numbers; how many are in rehabilitation, how many are considered successfully rehabilitated, and what needs to be changed? The evaluation begins as soon as the initiative commences, starting with the needs assessment, and adjustments made accordingly as the initiative progresses. Read More