The Impact of Student Diversity on Interest, Design, and Promotion of Web-based Tailored Nutrition and Physical Activity Programs for Community Colleges

Abstract

Objective To examine an organizational level perspective of the process of adopting Web-based tailored nutrition and physical activity programs for community college students. Methods In this qualitative study, 21 individual key informant interviews of community college student services and health center administrators were used to examine organizational-level perceptions of interest in, design characteristics of, and ways to promote health programs. A cross-classification matrix of a priori and emergent themes related to student diversity was created to describe cross-cutting patterns. Results Findings revealed 5 emergent themes for consideration in program development related to student diversity: (1) multiple roles played by students, (2) limited access to financial resources, (3) varied student demographics, (4) different levels of understanding, and (5) commuting to campus. Conclusions and Implications Nutrition and physical activity programs for community colleges need to specifically address the diverse nature of their students to increase the potential of adoption.

Undergrad and Overweight: An Online Behavioral Weight Management Program for College Students

“…Testing in a more diverse group of students would confirm acceptability and inform widespread dissemination efforts, as a recent study of the acceptance of a Web-based nutrition and physical activity program by community college administrators emphasized that even Web-based programs need to be tailored to the diverse set of challenges faced by students in a variety of college settings. 38 Limitations of this study include difficulty evaluating changes in eating and exercise behaviors for many of the students who designated ''healthy lifestyle'' or ''better exercise routine'' as a goal. Although students were asked to self-monitor their eating and exercise behaviors, these weekly diaries were used for educational purposes and did not provide information precise enough to examine energy intake and expenditure changes.…”

Current Methods in Health Behavior Research Among U.S. Community College Students

“…Database searches resulted in 57 studies that appeared to meet the inclusion criteria. However, 10 of these studies were excluded because three studies (Chiauzzi et al, 2011; Quintiliani et al, 2011; Spatz, Thombs, Byrne, & Page,2003) involved college personnel as participants rather than students; two studies were conducted in Canada (Wells, Graham, Tremblay, & Magyarody, 2011; Wells, Neighbors, Tremblay, & Graham, 2011); one study did not assess students’ health behavior or health indicator (Hanauer, Dibble, Fortin, & Col,2004); two studies did not provide information separately for the community college subsample (Loukas, Garcia, & Gottlieb,2006; Timberlake et al, 2007); one study involved a commuter college which did not match the definition of a community college (Prince & Bernard, 1998); and one study compared 4-year college students with noncollege students but the latter did not include community college students (Quinn & Fromme, 2011). Hence, 47 studies were selected to be included in the present review, of which four tobacco use studies (Berg, An et al, 2011; Berg, Lessard et al, 2011; Berg, Schauer et al, 2012; Berg, Sutfin et al, 2012) were based on the same data set and three studies on dietary behavior (Graham & Laska, 2012; Pelletier, Laska, Neumark-Sztainer, & Story, 2013; VanKim & Laska, 2012) were based on the same data set.Two studies (Anders, Frazier, & Shallcross, 2012; Ahren & Norriss, 2011) that focused on mental and physical health were included in the review even though they did not study health behavior per se because they were thematically similar to health behavior studies.…”

“…The lack of research with regard to other health behaviors emphasizes the relative lack of depth and breadth of prevention research involving community college students. Recent research has especially stressed the importance of studying obesity-prone behaviors among community college students (Quintiliani et al, 2011). Further, few longitudinal or intervention research seems to have been conducted among community college students, although community colleges seem to provide a favorable channel to reach vulnerable populations for interventions (Chiauzzi et al, 2011; Lipkus & Prokhorov, 2007; Prokhorov et al, 2008; Quintiliani et al, 2011).…”

“…Accessing students in the classroom appears to be the best means of obtaining data from a large number of community college students (James et al, 2007). However, collecting data or implementing health interventions in community college classrooms may be challenging because instructors are often reluctant to give up entire class periods for study implementation (Arliss, 2007; Quintiliani, De Jesus, & Wallington, 2011). This contrasts with research universities where, because of well-established culture of research, it is relatively easy to access undergraduate students in the classroom for research purposes, especially within investigators’ own departments.…”

Iniciativas de promoción de la salud destinadas a adultos jóvenes. Estudio cualitativo

“…Así mismo, se reconoce la complejidad del entramado de subjetividades en torno a la construcción de hábitos saludables (28) constatado en cierta medida a través del marco conceptual propuesto en este trabajo donde se pone en evidencia que, entre la aceptación y la utilización efectiva de los servicios de salud, existen múltiples canales y mediadores. Si bien desde este estudio se pudieron jerarquizar diferentes intervenciones de promoción de la salud considerando elementos como aceptabilidad y potencial utilización, también será necesario considerar las características específicas dentro de cada estrategia y su adecuación a los potenciales usuarios (29) . Otros elementos a tener en cuenta y que surgieron de este estudio, son las barreras y facilitadores vinculados a la accesibilidad.…”