New Resources for Campus Health Centers

 

Campus health centers are one of several first response locations offered to students who may be survivors of sexual or intimate partner violence (IPV) during their years in college or university. Campus health center staff and providers are in a special position to support survivors and educate all patients about sexual assault and IPV. Further, campus health centers can provide information about healthy relationships and how violence can affect health, wellness, and academic performance while in school.

 

Futures Without Violence (Futures) recently developed several tools to assist those working in campus health centers to implement a universal education approach for patients and a trauma-informed response to violence. The resources provide information on what individual providers, staff, and student health educators can do; specific clinic changes that are integral to a comprehensive response; and how to partner with on- and off-campus groups also working on these issues.

In addition to these tools, Futures' Health Program hosts 10 graduate students from across the country in an annual fellowship that seeks to develop the students' leadership capacity around responding to and preventing sexual and intimate partner violence on college campuses. Learn more about the Campus Leaders Program and the other college and university work conducted by Futures Without Violence.

Drunk Driving Prevention and Enforcement

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over national enforcement campaign goes into effect across the country from August 15 to September 3, 2018. Labor Day is one of the deadliest times of the year due to drunk driving. Data from NHTSA's fact sheet show that in 2016, 433 people died in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period and 43 percent of those fatal crashes involved drivers who had been drinking. Among the drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period in 2016, 47 percent of those fatalities involved drunk drivers with blood alcohol concentrations of .08 or higher.

 

The efforts of law enforcement professionals and highway safety advocates during this campaign will help reduce the number of drunk drivers on the roads and save lives. Others can help by raising public awareness and spreading the campaign's message. The NHTSA National Mobilization webpage includes links to an enforcement action kit, materials geared specifically towards motorcyclists, a fact sheet, a sample news release and OpEd, flyers, infographics, logos, posters, social media messaging, and other materials. NHTSA also offers a mobile app, SaferRide, available on Google Play and iTunes App Store that allows users to call a taxi or a predetermined friend and identifies the user's location so they can be picked up.

 

Many institutions of higher education (IHEs) have implemented policies and programs in an attempt to curb alcohol and other drug abuse and its associated negative consequences, including drunk driving. From 1999 to 2007, the U.S. Department of Education identified and promoted 34 effective campus-based prevention programs as model programs (PDF). Some of the tactics used by community colleges include having students volunteer to be designated drivers; establishing Students Against Destructive Decisions groups that will assist in finding information about support groups, counseling, treatment programs, and other guidance options; providing abuse programs and DUI rehabilitation courses on campus; building awareness through prevention parades, candlelight vigils for victims of drunk drivers, memorial walls, and poster contests; and having students in media classes develop marketing ads for anti-drunk driving campaigns.

 

In addition to campus and law enforcement efforts to prevent drunk driving and enforce alcohol-impaired driving laws, parents and families can be an important part of the solution. The Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems recently released College Parents Matter, a resource containing tools and scripts to improve communication between parents and college students. The website is designed to equip parents with some tools and resources that will help them engage in effective communication with their college-attending child about such topics as high risk drinking situations and impaired driving.

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