Amber Cowburn
Healthy University Coordinator UWE
Rachel Colley
Community Manager The Students’ Union at UWE
Sean Johnson
Alcohol Impact Research Lead
Pre-Arrival Health & Wellbeing Survey Findings relevant to Alcohol Impact
Introduction A Pre-Arrival Health & Wellbeing Survey was conducted by the Healthy University Coordinator (Amber Cowburn) with the aim of gaining insights into our incoming students’ perceptions of heath and wellbeing, their current habits and concerns. The findings from this survey will be used to inform the University and Students’ Union service delivery and priorities for student health and wellbeing. The survey was sent out to all new students (home & international) via their online UWE portal. The survey opened on 1st June 2018 and closed 4th September 2018. In total 2500 responses (capped) were received. The complete findings were presented to the Alcohol Impact Steering Group by the Healthy University Coordinator (Amber Cowburn) in March 2019. This presentation includes a summary of the findings relevant to Alcohol Impact and suggested recommendations for action.
Health behaviours and their importance 54.8% of students reported that staying safe on a night out was ‘very important’. This finding illustrates the role that our ‘Late Night Do It Right’ campaign plays in ensuring students have a fun but safe night out.
Health behaviours and their importance 40.5% of students reported that understanding alcohol units and limits was ‘very important’. This finding illustrates the need for awareness activities and interventions that focus on alcohol units and drinking limits.
Wellbeing concerns Participants were asked about their concerns around starting university. By providing additional support to mitigate these concerns it can be hoped that the number of students using alcohol as a coping mechanism will be reduced. This finding highlights the importance of support from: •
Academic and personal tutors (APT)
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Financial guidance from the Advice Centre
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Inclusive Welcome programme to ensure opportunities for students to make new friends.
Wellbeing & stress support options The most popular options included going for a walk, speaking to a flatmate/friends and speaking to personal tutors. A map of interesting walking routes around campus could be developed. It is also important to highlight the role flatmates/friends and APT’s play in providing support and equip them with the necessary skills and signposting to other services.
Drinking alcohol and perceptions
Participants most commonly reported drinking alcohol ‘once a week’ (30.9%) and ‘once a month’ (30.3%). 15.6% of participants reported that they ‘never drink alcohol’. In total, 84% of participants currently drunk alcohol once a week or less.
Drinking alcohol and perceptions
Participants were asked about their expectations of whether their drinking habits would change when they start university. 35% of participants chose ‘I expect that I will drink the same amount of alcohol’ 10.6% expecting that ‘I will drink less alcohol’ This is in comparison to 29% who chose ‘I expect that I will drink more alcohol’.
Drinking alcohol and perceptions The majority of students agreed that ‘it is expected that students will drink alcohol’ (69.9%) and that ‘it is expected that students will get drunk’ (61.5%). However, only 34.1% reported that ‘drinking alcohol and getting drunk is a key part of student culture’ and 22.6% reported ‘all of my classmates or housemates will drink alcohol’. This finding suggests that whilst the expectation is for students to drink and get drunk, they do not expect all students to drink and that student culture is not primarily driven by drinking alcohol.
Concerns about alcohol consumption The highest proportion of students chose that none of the areas concerned them about alcohol consumption. 23.4% were concerned about ‘other students behaviour when they’ve drunk alcohol’. 13.6% were worried ‘that socialising would be harder if they didn’t drink alcohol’. Welcome communications could include awareness of own behaviour on others when under the influence of alcohol.
Recommendations In considering the findings from the initial analysis of the Pre-Arrival Health & Wellbeing Survey, the following recommendations have been made for consideration by the Alcohol Impact Working group: 1) Consider further role out of the Late Night Do It Right campaign for events throughout the academic year to further support students in having a safe and enjoyable night out. 2) Conduct awareness campaigns on alcohol units and limits to improve knowledge and hopefully empower students to choose to drink responsibly. 3) Work with Academic and Personal Tutors (APT) to highlight the important role they play in supporting students and provide them with relevant information for signposting to additional services such as Wellbeing and Advice Centre. 4) Reflect on Welcome programme to ensure it provides sufficient opportunities for friendship building among all student groups. 5) Create a guide of interesting walks within the Bristol area. 6) Improve awareness among students about the important role they play in supporting the wellbeing of other students, and equipping them with relevant signposting information. 7) Consider the use of the alcohol consumption and perceptions data for a pre-arrival social norms campaign. 8) Conduct further analysis by demographics and groups, and compare with follow-up survey findings.