Our Campus, Our Health: Implementing a Student-Led Health Assessment

Engaging undergraduate health education students in meaningful research is critical to grow the next generation of researchers and leaders. Borrowing from the Community-Based Participatory Research paradigm, a group of undergraduate students, under the advisement of a faculty member developed and implemented a comprehensive health assessment to the student population. Our Campus, Our Health: A Student-led Campus Health Assessment is a model to engage students in basic research methods while offering a valuable resource to the entire campus.

As with individuals, college campuses are very diverse and health education programs should not be designed without understanding the unique needs of the student body. A thorough health assessment should be administered annually to track trends in risk behaviors.

A workgroup of fifteen students were assembled through the student health education honor society. Lead researchers were identified and planned weekly meetings to develop the survey questions using the six dimensions of wellness. Students received research ethics education training and were instructed in online survey software. The Institutional Review Board application was compiled using student input. After several months of planning, the voluntary and confidential web-based survey was delivered to all undergraduate and graduate students over a four week period. Reminders were sent weekly and 10% of the student body responded. Students analyzed the data using SPSS Version 16.0 and the campus results were compared with national college health data. The research team delivered a “State of the Student Health” address to disseminate the results with students, faculty, administrators and community partners.