Content comparison of campus medical amnesty policies

Abstract

Objective: To describe common components of medical amnesty (MA) policies and examine how MA policies differ across institutions. Participants: 50 U.S. colleges and universities with current MA policies. Methods: A checklist was developed to compare and assess the campus MA policies of 50 institutions. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and regression analyses were used to examine common policy components and differences across types of institutions. Results: 40% of policies did not include a purpose statement. 42% of policies had no mention about how to use the policy. 48% did not mention restrictions on amnesty. 32% did not mention follow-up actions. 24% of policies mentioned extending amnesty for additional person(s) present. There were no significant differences in policy components across school characteristics. Conclusions: Many policies lacked detail, highlighting the need for guidelines and best practices to develop MA policies. Future research could examine the effects of these policy components on help seeking intentions.

Keywords:

• College students
• amnesty
• school policies
• alcohol
• bystander intervention

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the McCrae Williams Foundation for their pilot data collection efforts and dedication to raise awareness and encourage help seeking.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.