Let’s give SC college students the power to help keep their peers safe amid COVID-19

Institutions of higher education around our state and the world are continuing their planning to safely reopen this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The style of education will vary, and it will be subject to constant change rather than being set in stone.

The binary model of fully in-person classes and fully remote learning is replaced by many hybrid variations, all of them designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection while also accommodating illness.

Meanwhile, professors will be expected to quickly and creatively adapt their curricula, lesson plans, lectures, advising, experiential learning and exams amid the presence of COVID-19.

But another clear challenge on campuses this fall will be promoting student awareness of — and adherence to — safety measures.

Three of the most widely promoted safety measures during COVID-19 have been hand washing, wearing a mask and maintaining a social distance of 6 feet.

College life is a time of academic growth, communal living and social exploration, and college campuses will need creative and collaborative assistance in implementing campus safety.

In preparing for the arrival of students, signage and mandatory video training will be important measures of relaying information and providing resources; however, they may not be the most effective techniques for promoting safety adherence.

Peer-to-peer

One strategy I deployed as a college student advisor of sexual health advocates is peer-to-peer education, and fostering peer-to-peer education may equip educators with an additional tool to consider as the fall semester approaches.

The benefits I have observed by incorporating peer educators in sexual health may be transferable to COVID-19 safety by moving from a Safer Sex campaign to a Safer Six (maintaining social distance) campaign.

Peers have the power to reinforce, inspire and change behavior; they can be a vital way of disseminating information and serving as effective influencers.

The American College Health Association recently completed a brief data report titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on College Student Well-Being.” In the study, students reported that their “campus leaders have generally been supportive, especially professors.”

This finding clearly indicates the huge role that professors are poised to play in connecting with students to encourage safety measures — and as a professor, I believe we should consider advising students on peer-to-peer education in practicing Safer Six.

This collaboration can take many different forms; for example, students who are looking for a capstone project or to perform field work might be particularly interested in teaming up with faculty.

A useful tool

Clearly peer-to-peer education is not a panacea for the COVID-19 challenge facing our college campuses; rather it is a tool that can benefit a campus community as it adjusts to the changing climate that COVID-19 created.

This fall semester will hold many uncertainties. But through all of the unknowns there is one constant: the power of the student-professor relationship.

I encourage faculty to adopt lessons learned in peer-to-peer Safer Sex education to collaborate with students — and explore the effective role that peer educators can play in supporting the practice of Safer Six.

Alice Holland PhD, APRN, CSE is a family nurse practitioner in Beaufort. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of South Carolina Beaufort.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 10:17 AM.