An Educational Approach: Increasing College Freshmen\u27s Knowledge Regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2009), young adults account for only 25% o fsexually active persons in the United States, but account for 50% of the newly diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some young adults may not have received appropriate or credible information on sexual health by which to make knowledgeable decisions that may influence the rest of their lives. High schools are not required to offer comprehensive sex education. Therefore, some students may have received abstinence-only sex education. Risk reduction and disease prevention are important in college health. This evidenced-based practice project included the creation, implementation, and evaluation of an evidenced based sexual-health intervention to increase what college freshmen currently know regarding STIs.The project took place at a mid-sized, faith-based university in the Midwest. The constructs of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) were used to formulate the intervention. A logic model guided the intervention and evaluation of outcomes. Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation model (DOI) was used to guide change within the organization. Pre-intervention data were collected by online survey and a pretest. The online survey had 196 participants and the intervention had 20 participants. The intervention was offered over six weeks to gain enough participants. After the intervention, a posttest was administered to the same participants. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, frequencies, and an independent t-test to determine statistical significance. There was a statistical increase in knowledge of STIs post-intervention (p \u3c .05). The results suggest there is a need for sexual health programming for freshmen