Dr. Weiss does program evaluation for different school- and community-based programs.
Computerized Alcohol Screening Intervention (CASI)
This project was funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to support research and develop interventions to address drunk driving. This program was originally implemented by the emergency department at UCI and is currently housed at the Student Health and Counseling Center at CSUF. Screening and Brief Intervention has been proven effective in reducing drinking among patients at risk for alcohol use problems. The evaluation process will include pre and post surveys to measure knowledge, attitudes and behavior change.
Personal Nutrition Planner
This project involves a program evaluation on a community obesity intervention, “Dairy Council Personal Nutrition Planner.”
Active Living in Santa Ana (ALISA)
Project ALISA has been working with the city and residents of Santa Ana, along with several organizations in Orange County, to increase awareness of and the amount of physical activity among Santa Ana residents. To get a better idea of what some city residents are thinking and doing with respect to exercise and physical activity, researchers from Cal State Fullerton worked with Project ALISA to conduct a survey about these issues. This survey was targeted to a specific large residential community that is similar to other communities within Santa Ana; residents were primarily Hispanic/Latino and Spanish-speaking. Additionally, this particular residential area had received some support from ALISA to conduct aerobics classes on the premises, so the survey also included questions about what residents thought about the aerobics program.
Pediatric Obesity Intervention Program
This goal of this project is to evaluate and provide evidence based information on the effectiveness of pediatric obesity intervention programs. In addition to examining weight loss induced by the program, associations between childhood obesity and several psychosocial factors are also examined. The program, PowerPlay-MD-OC, is a medically based, culturally sensitive pediatric weight management program in Orange County designed to promote healthy eating and active children. The target population is children between the ages of 2-18 years who have been clinically diagnosed as obese (BMI > 30).
Healthy Club, Pediatric Obesity Intervention Program
This is a Children’s Wellness program funded by the Children and Family Commission of Orange County. The goal of this program is to help the Commission demonstrate how their services improve the health of children and help prevent childhood obesity.
Research Committee Chair
The Research Committee of the Nutrition and Physical Activity Collaborative of the Orange County Health Care Agency carries out several activities, including mini grant evaluations, online survey design, and information dissemination.