Practice Report: Student Health Ambassadors at Residential Campuses Contribute to Safer Campus Living and Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In summer 2020 six residential institutions of higher education (IHE) and the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Western North Carolina chose a collaborative approach to mitigating COVID-19 infection rates on campus. This approach shares the practices and successes of this concerted effort with a focus on a large public, medium public, and small private IHE. The campuses promoted a healthy and safe culture through a rigorous and transformational learning experience and focused on engaging Student Health Ambassadors (SHAs) in applying the Diffusion of Innovations model to peer-topeer gain-framed messaging for health. Three institutions’ programs are presented and cross-case analysis is used to illuminate transferable promising practices. Promising transferable practices across the schools include: selecting the right students, strong institutional support, the three Ps (positive, proactive and prevention-focused), building leadership skills, and peer-led campus culture change. Transferable insights from the practices at three campuses focused on the role and impact of peer-to-peer student health ambassadors on campus to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.