Community-Based Participatory Research: Partnering with College Students to Develop a Tailored, Wellness-Focused Intervention for University Campuses

Abstract

College students face unique challenges with leading healthful lifestyles. Using a community-based participatory research approach, college student research partners at two land-grant universities collected data and developed a tailored intervention to improve the well-being of college students. To inform the design of the program, college students were trained to conduct a needs assessment that included a campus-wide survey on the health behaviors of college students, environmental audits of health policies and food pantries on campus, and stakeholder interviews with campus health professionals. Outcomes of the needs assessment data highlighted university students ranked their health as “good” but nutrition health as “fair/poor.” Low or very low food security was self-reported by 36.9% of participants and had an overall diet quality score of 47.6 ± 10.1 out of 100. Health professional interview data indicated campuses provide healthful resources to students, but students are not aware those resources exist. Utilizing the needs assessment data previously mentioned, the nominal group technique was then used for student research partners to collaboratively determine the best intervention approaches and develop a wellness program. Student partners identified (1) education, (2) sharing of campus resources, and (3) incentives as important areas of intervention. Using the data collected, the student research partners developed a program titled, The College Cooking Connection, to address health-related quality of life in college students. Using a community-based participatory research approach to program planning, educators and researchers have a greater likelihood of addressing the current needs of the population they are targeting and developing a successful intervention to meet those health concerns. This study aims to partner with young adult university students to understand the college environment and allow the target community to be involved with the development of intervention programs for their campus.

Safe space type interventions to generate well-being in university contexts and their effectiveness: a quick review of the literature

“…Así mismo, los resultados sugieren que cuando las intervenciones que se plantean para un grupo determinado son opcionales, la participación de dicho grupo puede no ser tan significativa. En este sentido, se plantean incentivos que van desde lo académico hasta lo económico para llamar la atención de los estudiantes y asegurar que su participación sea una prioridad (19). Esto se suma a la necesidad de pensar en que las intervenciones se ajusten a los horarios de los estudiantes, y que siempre se difunda de manera profunda el beneficio personal que esto implicaría para ellos (19).…”

“…Además, se evaluó una propuesta generada en dos universidades estadounidenses (19) con una intervención de tres fases consistente en entrevistas y generación de datos, seguido de un taller de 3 días con 13 participantes con quienes se estudiaba la información encontrada, y finalmente se generaba una junta comunal de consejería para generar una propuesta aplicable para el bienestar universitario, para generar una prueba piloto con base en los proyectos desarrollados y la consiguiente evaluación de estos (19). En la siguiente tabla se sintetiza los hallazgos de la literatura Tabla 1: síntesis de la literatura.…”

Community-Based Designed Pilot Cooking and Texting Intervention on Health-Related Quality of Life among College Students

“…The overarching study intervention used a community-based participatory research approach to develop a feasible and acceptable college-based program. Collaboratively, 7 undergraduate college student research partners participated in a 16-week college course in fall 2021 to assess their college environment for healthfulness and worked collaboratively across two Universities to develop a program that addressed the identified needs of their peers as a whole [ 24 ]. Details on this course, research student participation, and collaborative process for the program design were published previously [ 24 ].…”

“…Collaboratively, 7 undergraduate college student research partners participated in a 16-week college course in fall 2021 to assess their college environment for healthfulness and worked collaboratively across two Universities to develop a program that addressed the identified needs of their peers as a whole [ 24 ]. Details on this course, research student participation, and collaborative process for the program design were published previously [ 24 ]. Student research partners from both universities ultimately formed into an advisory team and met together at a 3-day workshop in January 2022 to decide on a cohesive program [ 24 ].…”

“…Details on this course, research student participation, and collaborative process for the program design were published previously [ 24 ]. Student research partners from both universities ultimately formed into an advisory team and met together at a 3-day workshop in January 2022 to decide on a cohesive program [ 24 ]. Intervention strategies were decided upon by employing CBPR methods, utilizing the nominal group technique, data from students’ community needs assessment, and each student’s knowledge as an attendant at each of the universities.…”