Benefits and Level of Satisfaction a First-Year Orientation Program Delivers for Freshmen in College

Freshmen beginning their undergraduate education enter with various backgrounds and understanding of what college expectations will be. Institutions must properly ease first-year students into this new transition in their life. One way to help a first-year student transitioning into college is with a first-year orientation program. First-year orientation programs provide unique space for students to adjust well to their institution. Orientation provides time prior to the academic year beginning to allow first-year students to meet their peers, better understand the transition into college, become familiar with campus, feel comfortable with interacting with faculty, staff and administration, and learn more about one’s self and others in a large or small group setting. Orientation provides all of these benefits to first-year students because of various available avenues, such as programming opportunities and small group settings with other first-year students. Orientation allows first-year students to better know themselves, their peers, and the campus culture before beginning the academic year. Institutionally, orientation programs highly benefit first-year students and are utilized nationally across various institution types

Implementation-effectiveness trial of an ecological intervention for physical activity in ethnically diverse low income senior centers

Abstract Background As the US population ages, there is an increasing need for evidence based, peer-led physical activity programs, particularly in ethnically diverse, low income senior centers where access is limited. Methods/design The Peer Empowerment Program 4 Physical Activity’ (PEP4PA) is a hybrid Type II implementation-effectiveness trial that is a peer-led physical activity (PA) intervention based on the ecological model of behavior change. The initial phase is a cluster randomized control trial randomized to either a peer-led PA intervention or usual center programming. After 18 months, the intervention sites are further randomized to continued support or no support for another 6 months. This study will be conducted at twelve senior centers in San Diego County in low income, diverse communities. In the intervention sites, 24 peer health coaches and 408 adults, aged 50 years and older, are invited to participate. Peer health coaches receive training and support and utilize a tablet computer for delivery and tracking. There are several levels of intervention. Individual components include pedometers, step goals, counseling, and feedback charts. Interpersonal components include group walks, group sharing and health tips, and monthly celebrations. Community components include review of PA resources, walkability audit, sustainability plan, and streetscape improvements. The primary outcome of interest is intensity and location of PA minutes per day, measured every 6 months by wrist and hip accelerometers and GPS devices. Secondary outcomes include blood pressure, physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning. Implementation measures include appropriateness & acceptability (perceived and actual fit), adoption & penetration (reach), fidelity (quantity & quality of intervention delivered), acceptability (satisfaction), costs, and sustainability. Discussion Using a peer led implementation strategy to deliver a multi-level community based PA program can enhance program adoption, implementation, and sustainment. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, USA ( NCT02405325 ). Date of registration, March 20, 2015. This website also contains all items from the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set