Impact of the LaCrosse Wellness Project on the health behaviors and attitudes of students residing on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse

Abstract

This research examined the impact of a specific health promotion process, the LaCrosse Wellness Project (LWP), on the health behaviors and attitudes of college students. The groups participating in the research consisted of a sample of students living in the residence halls on the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse campus in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. There were 15 Ss in the experimental group and 17 Ss in the control group. Three instruments were used for th~ evaluation of this research: the LWP Impact Evaluation, the LWP Process Evaluation, and the Student Response Inventory. The LWP Impact Evaluation was used as a pre- posttest for the experimental and control groups. Both of the groups also completed the Student Response Inventory during the posttest phase. Finally, during the posttest phase, the experimental group completed the LWP Process Evaluation. The L\VP intervention materials for this experimental study included the LaCrosse Wellness Inventory and the Wellness Development Process. The MannWhitney U-test was chosen to analyze the data from 7 hypotheses. Relationships between variables for 2 hypotheses were analyzed using Spearman's r correlation factor. Significance was established at the p~ .05 level. Statistical significance was found in 1 of 9 hypotheses. The group experiencing the LWP significantly showed a greater desire to establish a personal wellness definition than the group not experiencing the process.