Development of the Alabama model and assessment of student health and wellbeing.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe the development of the Alabama Model of Student Health and Wellbeing, the development of an innovative assessment process used to assess wellbeing in a college population based on this model, and to provide initial descriptive longitudinal student wellbeing results. Method: Participants were currently enrolled students at a large, public 4-year university in the south. Student responses (N = 38,306) to the Alabama Model of Student Health and Wellbeing (AMSHW) survey instrument were captured during the 2019-2022 academic years (AY). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize survey responses from each dimension. Responses were compared by academic year, gender, and race using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Results: Overall, students reported "good" and "fair" physical (Mean = 3.1, SD = 0.9) and financial status (Mean = 2.3, SD = 1.0), respectively. Dimension responses significantly differed by academic year (all p < 0.05) except for the spiritual dimension (p = 0.994). Males reported higher average scores than females on the financial, physical, and psychological dimensions over various AYs, all p < 0.05. Females reported higher average scores (Mean = 2.5, SD = 1.3) than males (Mean = 2.2, SD = 1.5) on the spiritual dimension for AY 2021. Across all wellbeing dimensions, all racial groups reported the highest scores for the physical dimension (Mean: 2.9 to 3.2). Whites reported the lowest scores for the spiritual dimension (Mean = 2.3). All other racial groups reported the lowest scores for the financial dimension (Mean = 1.9 to 2.4). Conclusion: The Alabama Model of Student Health and Wellbeing is a multidimensional model of college student health and wellbeing that also serves as a comprehensive theoretical framework for developing an innovative means of population assessment of student wellbeing on a college campus. A number of institutions have espoused a model of student wellbeing but, to-date, few institutions have operationalized their student wellbeing model into an assessment of student wellbeing that provides "real time" data of the wellbeing of the student population. Discussion of areas for continued and future research and practice will be addressed.