Effects of the sipITT alcohol misuse intervention: A pilot project

Jackie RuttledgeDepartment of Health and Leisure

Institute of Technology Tralee

Problem and Background• Poor attendance, engagement, performance and

retention during 2012/2013 • Alcohol was a significant factor contributing to this

behaviour. • 83% (n=102) of students were found to binge

drink, those who binge drink claimed to do so on an average of 2.5 nights per week.

• In UCC, Cahill and Byrne (2010) reported that 83% (n=151) of students admitted to having had a binge in the previous 12 months.

• At 3rd level, out of 21 countries, Ireland has the highest level of binge drinking (Dantzer et al, 2006)

• Abundance of evidence to suggest that heavy drinking among students has a negative effect on student success and ultimately student retention (Wechsler et al, 2000, Singleton, 2007, Martinez et al, 2008 Wolfson 2009).

• The CLAN study (2005) reported that students who regularly binge drink were twice as likely to miss college compared to non-binge drinkers (61% v 27%)

• Other adverse consequences include harm to:• Physical health

• brain damage, sexually transmitted infections, accidents and injuries

• Mental health• 92% of suicides tested positive for alcohol in people

under 30 (Bedford, et al 2006)

Aims• To reduce levels of dangerous and destructive

drinking among first year health and leisure students

• Reduce the adverse health and social consequences attributable to alcohol

• To improve student retention, performance, engagement and attendance.

• To support and promote the health and general wellbeing of the student cohort

Methods• Guest speaker – Shane Mullins

(Inspirational talk on his life after a horrific car accident caused by drink driving)

• Alcohol awareness stand ‘hydrate to stay out late’

• sipITT facebook page• Free activities: Massage,

fitness testing, personal training, bootcamp, yoga, gym, soccer

• Student concession nights - Aqua Dome, Bowling Buddies

• Weekly schedule of events

• Launched sipITT project during induction programme to try to encourage an alternative culture

• e-PUB online intervention• Drugs/alcohol drop in centre

every Monday morning (NC) • Alcohol/Drugs awareness

workshops during health studies – lifestyle and health module

• Ma’s and Da’s mentoring programme

• Brief interventions training for staff

Applying the Principles of Health Promotion

Key Principles ExamplesEmpowerment Enable students to assume more power over alcohol

use, i.e workshopsParticipative Involve students, staff, local agencies, experts Holistic Target all dimensions of health – i.e physical , mental,

socialInter-sectoral Collaboration with Tralee Community Drugs Initiative,

HSE, GardaíSustainable Embedding content in Health Studies module

SipITT Activity ScheduleTime Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Morning

Public Swim - Complex €2IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 7.30AM-9.00AM FREE

Public Swim - Complex €2IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 7.30AM-9.00AM FREE

Public Swim - Complex €2IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 7.30AM-9.00AM FREE

Public Swim - Complex €2IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 7.30AM-9.00AM FREE

Starts 8am Complex Gym Open 7am-10pm €2 Complex Gym Open 7am-10pm €2 Complex Gym Open 7am-10pm €2 Complex Gym Open 7am-10pm €2Lunch Time

YOGA 1PM-1.45PM- C102 Fitness Club (Aerobic Stud) €3 RAG Society – T206 Fitness Club (Aerobic Stud) €3

1-2pm Public Swim - Complex €2 Public Swim - Complex €2 Music Society - R104 Heavy Metal Society – T116

Radio Society - R104 TV/Film Society - T204 Comtempory Dance - R107 St. Vincent de Paul - R102

Jogging Club Starts at 1.05pm Hip Hop Society – R107

Wildlife Society - B105 @1.15Motorsport – T108

ACTIVITY LEADERSHIP PRACTICE TIME 1-2PM (1ST YR H&L ONLY)5 a side Football

After College

Public Swim - Complex €2 Public Swim - Complex €2 Bowling Buddies & curry chips €4.95 Public Swim - Complex €2

Starts 5pm MAG Society - S114IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 5-9PM FREE

MAG Society - T116IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 5-9PM FREE

Public swim - Complex €2 Sci-Fi Society - T118

Badminton Complex €2

Starts 6pm Aerobics -S/C Aerobic Studio Ladies Basketball - Presentation School Mens Rugby - NC Pitch Boxing - Aerobics Studio S/CLadies Soccer – Astro NC Boxing - Aerobics Studio Ladies Soccer - NC Pitch IT Tralee Gym open 6-9pm Free

Ladies Basketball- Pres Metal Society - S110 Photography Society - R103 Mens Soccer-All Weather N/C

Mens Rugby- N/C Pitches DJ Society - R102 (Biweekly) Tattoo & Piercing Society - R106 Art Society – R104

Massage & Relaxation- until 9pm (1st yr H&L only)LGBT Society- R106COUCH TO 5K AT 6.15PM- NC PITCH

Racquetball- Complex CourtsFREE MASSAGES GO TO E203 AT 6PM

TV/Video Society - S114Yoga- R107 (starts 6.20pm)COUCH TO 5K AT 6.15PM- NC PITCHIT TRALEE GYM OPEN 6-9PM FREE

IT TRALEE GYM OPEN 6-9PMSipITT FUN TRI-CHALLENGE CYCLING TRAINING 6.15PM OUTSIDE MAIN ENTRANCE TO S/C 

Starts 6.30pm

Kickboxing- S/C Aerobics Stud 2 Airsoft Society - S114 BOOTCAMP COMPLEX HALL Airsoft - T204

Tennis- Courts near Aqua Dome Squash- Complex Courts Kickboxing S/C Aerobic Stud 2 Zumba - Sports Complex €5 @6.40

Irish Trad Dance- C102 Irish Sign Language – B102

Aqua Dome €2 bring T-card Mens Basketball - Presentation School Volleyball - Presentation School Hall

Starts 7pm Swimming - Complex Pool (Free)Tag Rugby - Complex HallJudo- S/C Aerobics StudioAqua Dome €2 bring T-CardSipITT FUN TRI-CHALLENGE SWIM TRAINING COMPLEX POOL 7PM

Heavy Metal Society- S110Fitness Class-C102

Public Swim Complex- €2Orgra Fianna Fail- T107 SipITT FUN TRI-CHALLENGE SWIM TRAINING COMPLEX POOL 7PM

Fitness Class-C102

Starts 7.30pm

Mens Soccer - NC PitchMens Basketball- Pres

Tae Kwon Do Complex Hall (starts 7.40pm) Yoga - R107

Ladies Rugby N/C PitchesMens Soccer Astro NC

Athletics- North CampusTae Kwon Do- Complex Hall

Ladies Rugby- NC Pitches 

Starts 8.30pm

Badminton - Complex Indoor Soccer - Complex Hall

Starts 9.15pm

Public Swim - Complex €2 Public Swim - Complex €2 Public Swim - Complex €2 Public Swim - Complex €2

Data Collection MethodsEvaluation is ongoing

e-PUB online intervention (Includes AUDIT)• Completed 3 times during the year in class time with associated

workshops and tutorials

Student questionnaire • Administered twice during class time (December/April).

Staff interviews • Conducted during December and will repeated again next week

Students services – nurse, councillorStudents Union H & L Course board

External Interviews (ongoing)• Tralee Community Drugs Initiative• Local Gardaí• Michael Byrne, UCC• HSE

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)

Ten-question test developed by the World Health Organization to determine if a person's alcohol consumption may be harmful

Category questions:• Questions 1-3 deal with alcohol consumption• Questions 4-6 relate to alcohol dependence• Questions 7-10 consider alcohol related problems

Scoring• Scores for each question range from 0 - 4• Score of 8 or more - associated with harmful or

hazardous drinking• Score of 13 or more in women, and 15 or more in men -

likely to indicate alcohol dependence

Key Findings between Time 1 and Time 2

Time 1 – Sept 2013Time 2 – Dec 2013

(after 8 weeks)

  0 to 7 8 to 12Above

12 Total0 to 7 8 to 12

Above 12

TotalMale Count 16 20 20 56 19 12 15 46

% 28.6% 35.7% 35.7% 100.0% 41.3% 26.1% 32.6% 100.0%

Female Count 21 19 11 51 16 12 4 32

% 41.2% 37.3% 21.6% 100.0% 50.0% 37.5% 12.5% 100.0%

Total Count 37 39 31 107 35 24 19 78

% 34.6% 36.4% 29.0% 100.0% 44.9% 30.8% 24.4% 100.0%

• Decrease from 65.4% to 55.2% in overall scores of 8 or more • Males increased from 28.6% to 41.3% for scores 0 to 7, and

decreased from 71.4% to 58.7% for scores of 8 or more• Half of Female students had a score of 0 to 7 • The score for likely alcohol dependence for females decreased

from 21.6% to 12.5%

Staff Feedback“Horan’s has been on

the phone asking if student’s are boycotting

because of low numbers”

“Decrease in H & L students attending health centre due to an alcohol/drugs related problem”

“on the practical side, this is the first year that I haven’t had students coming in hungover which is a huge difference”

“Brief interventions training was very useful, I feel more confident to ask the question now. In fact I would

have to say that 99% of the time it has been worth asking the question”

“There’s a huge change in the culture within first years particularly they are much

more positive, they are much more engaged, they are much more supportive

of each other……

Suggestions and Actions“Keep sports teams training throughout semester 2”• sipITT Fun Tri Challenge on 7th April with 4 weeks of

dedicated training. • Group running sessions and couch to 5Km (8 weeks

training programme)“Thursday night would be a better night to plan activities because that’s when they do tend to go out drinking” • Aoife Hearne (Operation Transformation) nutrition

talk took place on Thurs 20 Feb. Other activities on Thursday evenings, i.e cycling

End of Year Outcome Indictors

Reduction in alcohol misuseImprovement in student retentionImprovement in exam resultsIncreased attendance.

Time 3 AUDIT Scores  CatTotalScore Total

0 to 7 8 to 12 Above 12

Gender

Male

Count 16 11 19 46

% within Gender34.8% 23.9% 41.3% 100.0%

Female

Count 18 11 11 40

% within Gender45.0% 27.5% 27.5% 100.0%

Total

Count 34 22 30 86

% within Gender39.5% 25.6% 34.9% 100.0%

• In the 8 to 12 category, there was a decrease across the 3 time points (36.4% - time 1, 30.8% - time 2, 25.6% - time 3)

• Decrease for scores 0 to 7 from 44.9% to 39.5%, however still an improvement on time 1 (34.6%)

• There was an increase in the above 12 scores. • Limitations -timing, appropriateness of AUDIT as a repeated measure (not sensitive enough), data not matched

Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

33.36

23.5421.55

Average weekly spend on alcohol (€)

Time point

Mea

n (€

)

2012/2013

2013/2014

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

13

6

Number of students who deregistered

Number of Students

2012/2013 2013/20140%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

46%

54%51%

68%

Percentage of students passing all modules (first attempt)

First year Second Year

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge

2012/2013 2013/2014

47%

57%

Student Lecture Attendance

Academic Year

Perc

enta

ge

Where do we go from here?• Complete final review of sipITT pilot project • Consider Implementing school-wide (Health and Social

Sciences School) • Additional action items/improvements for 2014/2015

• Set up a sipITT research group • Apply a planning and evaluation model (LEAP)• Review methodology for future implementation – survey

tool• Improve mentor training – content and timing• Additional guest speakers• Healthy eating/cookery demonstrations