Drinking in excess is a long-standing ritual that many students see as an integral part of the postsecondary experience. It is also a significant public health problem that affects students’ lives, including social, academic, legal and health issues.
The meeting will bring together researchers from around the world to discuss evidence around campus-based interventions that reduce alcohol-related harms among college and university students.
The program will be organized around the following main areas:
Strategies targeting individual students designed to change students’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to drinking, including education and awareness programs; alcohol norms information; cognitive-behavioural skills-based approaches; interventions by health professionals.
Strategies designed to change the campus climate by implementing both formal and informal alcohol-related rules and regulations to shape campus subcultures and scenes (in clubs, sports, dormitories, etc.), class schedules, building and spaces, etc.
Strategies targeting the surrounding community, such as initiatives to limit alcohol harms in the near-campus environment (off-campus housing, nearby bars, clubs, pubs, restaurants, etc.) and safe transportation strategies to get students home (e.g., without driving) after drinking sessions.
Going with the flow: opportunities for public health reinforcement as lighter drinking youth move on to college.