Evaluation of e-Pub in UCC

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB: 

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB Electronic Personal Use Barometer

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB: 

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB The electronic Personal Use Barometer (e-PUB) is a brief on-line self-assessment for UCC students, where students are asked to complete five pages of short surveys Accurate, detailed and personalized feedback on your use of alcohol, is then immediately provided a remarkable 3000+ users completed e-PUB in the past year, making it one of the largest on-line health interventions for students in Ireland

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB: 

Evaluation of UCC e-PUB A short qualitative survey of 74 students was carried out to evaluate e-PUB These were students who had completed e-PUB as a class assignment following an alcohol information module presented by Dr Michael Byrne, Head of the Student Health Department. Some of the results are presented in the following slides, outlining the effectiveness of e-PUB as a Health Promotion tool.

Slide 4: 

Level of Detail of Information Provided 96% of students rated the level of detail of information provided as either excellent, very good or good, as indicated in Fig. 1. Only 4% rated it as fair, with common suggestions for improvement including making information “more concise”

Images and Design of the Site : 

Images and Design of the Site 92% of students rated the images and design of the site as either excellent, very good or good, as indicated in Fig. 2. Only 8% of students rated the images and design of the site as fair or needing improvement. Common suggestions for improvement included “the use of more images” e.g. “ diagrams of healthy Vs. drinkers” to create “a fresher looking design”

Relevance to You as a Student: 

Relevance to You as a Student 88% of students rated the relevance of the initiative as either excellent, very good or good, with 12% rating it as fair, with no student indicating that e-PUB was of no relevance to them, as outlined in Fig. 3. Of those who rated it as fair, common themes which emerged was the lack of relevance for students who don’t drink “ since I don’t drink, I can’t really relate to the questions, maybe there should be sections to be answered for non-drinkers. Our reasons for not drinking would also be a good set of data”.

Level of Engagement/Interest: 

Level of Engagement/Interest 82.4% of students found the level of engagement to be either excellent, or very good or good, with 13.5% rating it as only fair and 4.1% indicating it needed improvement. Suggestions for improvement regarding level of engagement included making the initiative… “More interactive/multimedia, e.g. video. Better interface / design - brighter colours, fresher look, CONNECTIVITY to Facebook / Twitter - option to post results”

Effectiveness at Making You Reflect: 

Effectiveness at Making You Reflect 81% of students rated e-PUB as either excellent, very good or good at making you reflect on drinking behaviour Completing e-Pub allowed individuals to reflect not only on their own drinking behaviour, (“I can get to know if my drinking habit is at risk or not” ), but on their family risk of drinking behaviour, (“ highlighted my family risk of alcoholism which I had never considered ”) and the drinking behaviour of the student population (“ people easily underestimate their drinking habits ”).

As an Aid to Develop Specific Plans: 

As an Aid to Develop Specific Plans 86.5% of respondents rated the ability of e-PUB to aid in the development of specific plans as either excellent, very good or good “Makes me strongly think of cutting back” “My drinking should be enjoyed in moderation more”

Overall Impression of e-PUB as a Health Promotion Tool: 

Overall Impression of e-PUB as a Health Promotion Tool 38% of students rated the overall impression of e-PUB as a Health Promotion Tool, as very good, 35% rated it as excellent, 19% rated it as good Only 8% rated it as fair, and no student indicated that the overall impression of e-PUB as a health promoting tool needed improvement, as indicated in Fig. 7 “ It was useful to have it stated directly how much I drink and how it is damaging to me specifically because all other alcohol advice is always general”

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students: 

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students Calculating A nnual Expenditure on Alcohol – students identified the section which calculates annual expenditure on alcohol as the most useful aspect of e-PUB “I spend a lot more on alcohol than I thought” “ It was a shock to me and I think this will have the most profound effect on students” “The costs of drinking are actually higher than what I had imagined”

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students: 

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students Relating Alcohol to Calorie Consumption – relating alcohol consumption to calorie intake using the example of cheeseburgers made the information easy to understand “ It’s easy to forget that alcohol contains a lot of calories and I think for a lot of people, especially females, seeing their alcohol consumption equivalent to a lot of cheeseburgers would definitely make them more health conscious and possibly help in reducing their intake of alcohol”

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students: 

Most Useful Aspects of e-PUB as Identified by Students BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration)/facts and figures – students highlighted that outlining the BAC was a very informative way of making the results more personal. The graphs/pie charts made the information easy to understand ‘Time is the only cure’ “I learnt how long it takes to remove alcohol from the system and that a number of the things which I had thought would speed up the process are in fact no good” “ I learnt the hours it takes my BAC to return to 0 in relation to driving”

Some Quotes…: 

Some Quotes… “If I was worried about a habit I had and I did a similar survey to e-PUB for that habit, these would probably be more relevant” “M y family history indicates a high risk which is important to be conscious and aware of” “I thought the whole site was fantastic and has definitely made me more conscious about alcohol”

Some Quotes…: 

Some Quotes… “I thought this was a very interesting survey compared to a lot of other surveys I have done” “One on mental health, e.g. stress especially around exam time, and general fitness would be good” “ the issue of drinking too much alcohol could affect any of us personally or professionally during our lifetime ”

For Further Information…: 

For Further Information… Why not take the e-PUB…. www.ucc.ie/en/studenthealth/epub UCC Student Health Service Ardpatrick College Road 021-4902311 Follow us on Facebook or Find us on YouTube