Development and Validation of the Policies, Opportunities, Initiatives and Notable Topics (POINTS) Audit for Campuses and Worksites.

Authors

Tanya M Horacek, Syracuse UniversityFollow
Marlei Simon, Syracuse UniversityFollow
Elif Dede Yildirim, Auburn UniversityFollow
Adrienne A White, University of MaineFollow
Karla P Shelnutt, University of FloridaFollow
Kristin Riggsbee, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Melissa D. Olfert, West Virginia UniversityFollow
Jesse Stabile Morrell, University of New HampshireFollow
Anne E Mathews, University of FloridaFollow
Wenjun Zhou, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Tandalayo Kidd, Kansas State UniversityFollow
Kendra Kattelmann, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Geoffrey Greene, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Lisa Franzen-Castle, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Sarah Colby, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Rutgers UniversityFollow
Onikia Brown, Auburn UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-4-2019

Keywords

environmental audit, web-based assessment, health promotion policy, college

Abstract

Background: Workplace or campus wellness/obesity-prevention policies and initiatives can improve health. Research tools to assess worksite or campus policies/initiatives are scarce. Thus, the aim of this research is to develop and validate the policies, opportunities, initiatives, and notable topics (POINTS) audit. Methods: POINTS was developed and refined via expert review, pilot-testing, and field testing. Trained researchers completed a web-based review from a student-focus or employee-focus regarding 34 health-promoting topics for colleges. Each topic was evaluated on a 0⁻2 scale: 0 = no policy/initiative, 1 = initiatives, 2 = written policy. When a written policy was detected, additional policy support questions (administered, monitored, reviewed) were completed. Results: Cronbach's Alpha for the student-focused POINTSaudit was α = 0.787 (34 items, possible points = 65), and for the employee-focused POINTS audit was α = 0.807 (26 items, possible points = 50). A total of 115 student-focused and 33 employee-focused audits were completed. Although there was little evidence of policy presence beyond stimulant standards (smoking and alcohol), there were extensive examples of health initiatives. The student-focused POINTS auditwas validated using the Healthier Campus Initiative's survey. Conclusions: POINTS is a web-based audit tool that is valid and useful for pre-assessment, advocacy, benchmarking, and tracking policies for health and well-being for students (campus) and employees (worksite).

Publication Title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

16

Issue

5

First Page

132

Last Page

137

DOI of Published Version

10.3390/ijerph16050778

Publisher

MDPI

Rights

© 2019 The Author(s)

Recommended Citation

Horacek, T.M.; Simon, M.; Dede Yildirim, E.; White, A.A.; Shelnutt, K.P.; Riggsbee, K.; Olfert, M.D.; Morrell, J.S.; Mathews, A.E.; Zhou, W.; Kidd, T.; Kattelmann, K.; Greene, G.; Franzen-Castle, L.; Colby, S.; Byrd-Bredbenner, C.; Brown, O. Development and Validation of the Policies, Opportunities, Initiatives and Notable Topics (POINTS) Audit for Campuses and Worksites. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 778.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.