Model Program

Heads UP!: A Model Alcohol Prevention Program

The grant seeks to highlight an existing campus program (>2 years) that has demonstrated effectiveness in addressing alcohol issues. The grant requires a plan for dissemination of the program, as well as enhancement of the program.

I. Program Overview

Consistent with NIAAA (2002) guidelines and recommendations, Heads UP employs a "nested model" of alcohol interventions that target high-risk groups (freshmen males, adjudicated students) while providing support and infrastructure for broader campus culture change with respect to drinking. Campus-wide initiatives aimed at students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members are designed to impact views on alcohol use and abuse, while creating a campus culture supportive of responsible and mindful drinking behavior.

II. Evidence of Effectiveness

During the first two years of Heads UP, 239 freshmen male students (120 in Year 1 and 119 in Year 2) received the intervention, with 78% completing follow-up. A further 251 adjudicated students (173 males and 78 females) received the intervention for alcohol-related violations, with 80% completing six months of follow-up.

Figure 1: Outcomes for all participants (Year 1 and Year 2)

I. Reductions in drinks/month over time

II. Reductions in maximum drinks over time

Only 23% of freshmen males who received the intervention went on to receive an alcohol-related violation, while 47% of the rest of the freshmen male students received an alcohol-related violation. Prior to Heads UP, 50% of students who received one alcohol-related sanction went on to receive another. Only 15% of judicial students who received the intervention went on to receive an additional sanction.

III. Enhancement and Dissemination Plan for the Model’s Grant

While Heads UP is already an established program on campus, we will need the help of many campus offices and departments in hopes of establishing this as a “model program” for other institutes of higher learning. In the Model’s Grant, our plan of enhancing the current Heads UP program involves the following:

1. The development, enhancement, and marketing of the Heads UP website

As a student resource, the site will allow undergraduates involved in Heads UP projects to log on using their participant ID and track their progress. For all students, parents, and faculty/staff, the site will also include links to important alcohol resources, such as information on Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), alcohol poisoning, lists of national and local hotline numbers, campus emergency numbers, and an online assessment of alcohol use (e-CHUG). Information for faculty and staff members on how to identify and help students with potential alcohol problems will also be available. As a resource for professionals, the site will include links to Heads UP’s pending and published research articles on student alcohol use. Heads UP will work with LMU graphics designs and computer classes, as well as with the LMU IT department on this initiative.

2. Publishing and distribution of a Heads UP manual

We will publish and provide to other professionals a Heads UP manual that describes the program and highlights the group intervention. The manual will include a detailed description of the intervention protocol and other program elements, as well as theoretical support for the techniques used and a comprehensive reference list. All aspects of the program’s development, implementation, and evaluation will be thoroughly outlined to enable other universities to replicate or adapt the intervention for use on their campus.

3. Conducting of a day-long workshop at the annual meeting of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)

The PI and Heads UP team will conduct a workshop at the 2006 NASPA Conference, in which participants will be introduced to MI theory, techniques, and MI-based motivational enhancement interventions with problem drinkers.

4. Publishing of academic manuscripts, making professional presentations at national conferences, and providing consultations to other institutes of higher education.

Continued analyses and manuscript production, as well as additional presentations at national conferences, are part of the dissemination plan. Consultations to other Universities adopting programs similar to Heads UP will also be available.

5. Collaboration with The Center for Global Education’s SAFETI Consortium

Heads UP will collaborate with the Safety Abroad First Educational Travel Info (SAFETI) Consortium to develop pre-departure alcohol prevention programming similar to the motivational enhancement groups. This programming will be disseminated throughout the consortium. Further, the Center is currently developing a national on-line curriculum for study abroad students. Heads UP will serve as a consultant to integrate assessment and alcohol programming content into several modules of the course. Heads UP will work with the LMU Study Abroad Office, LMU Center for Global Education, and the LMU Office of Student Affairs on this initiative.

6. Freshmen Control Condition

In order to demonstrate that it is the Heads UP intervention itself that is instituting change in individuals and not other factors (i.e. assessment, being written up), Heads UP will recruit freshmen male students (N = 200) to randomly receive the intervention or an assessment only control. Heads UP will work with the LMU First Year Programs and the LMU Office of Student Affairs on this initiative.

7. Institutionalization of Heads UP into freshmen orientation

Once the intervention is empirically validated, we would like to install Heads UP as a regularly scheduled and mandatory meeting during freshmen orientation groups. Heads UP will provide training to student leaders, faculty, and staff members who wish to become trained Heads UP facilitators. Heads UP will work with the LMU Office of Student Affairs and the LMU freshmen orientation planning committee on this initiative.

8. Development and implementation of a second line sanction

As there is no set second line sanction for repeat offenders who have already attended Heads UP, we have designed a two-session one-on-one Motivational Interviewing intervention. This second line sanction will include assessment and discussions around changing problematic behavior. These sessions will be run by a doctorate level clinician. Heads UP will work with the LMU Office of Judicial Affairs on this initiative.

9. Administrative letter

Currently, all freshmen students and their parents receive two separate letters from the LMU President encouraging parent-student discussions around alcohol and drug use. Heads UP will continue to work with the Office of the President to continue distribution of these letters and will develop a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the letter…Next year, Heads UP will follow up the letter with a phone call to randomly selected families encouraging parents to initiate the conversation described in the letter. We will evaluate letter + phone call vs. letter alone.

10. Student-designed posters

Working with graphic arts classes at LMU, Heads UP has developed a poster campaign designed to promote responsible drinking and healthy living. These posters will be displayed around campus beginning in Sept/Oct of 2005. Heads UP will continue to work with the LMU Art Department and the LMU Student Housing Office to continue this campaign into the coming semesters for the coming year. Heads UP will evaluate the effectiveness of posters, including stickiness of poster messages.

11. Bi-monthly focus groups

Heads UP will run peer-led focus groups throughout the year. These focus groups will allow students to define their own ideas and reality of what the campus culture is, thereby providing important data not found in quantitative methods. These groups allow for rich descriptions of students’ perceptions of Heads UP and its effectiveness, the campus culture, and the attitude of the University to drinking. This provides insight into the context, influences, and motivations accompanying objective outcomes. Heads UP will work with Dr. Cheryl Grills in the LMU Psychology Department, as well as with the LMU Office of Student Affairs on this initiative.