Pilot Online LOH Education Program

Hope intervention is one of the known strength-based intervention but it has only been conducted in Northern American and selected Asian societies. It is useful to implement and test the program in the Philippines. However, the traditional Hope intervention emphasizes personal hopeful thinking, Locus-of-hope extends the Hope theory by integrating traditional co-agents (peers, parents, spirituality) and local co-agents in social institutions (teachers and counselors). The current study aims to implement and assess the immediate effect of the locus-of-hope intervention on tertiary students. The precede and proceed model was used as the model of the study, cognitive reappraisal, mental health promoting behavior, and availability of mental health services served as predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors, respectively. Locus of hope served as the target health behavior, and positive and negative affect were the health outcomes. The study utilized a quasi-experimental, pre-post test design, composed of a baseline survey and post-intervention survey. Findings indicate an increase with internal and external (peer, parent, spiritual, teacher, counselor) hope post-intervention. An increased positive affect and decreased negative affect was observed post-intervention. The findings provide promising support to locus-of-hope intervention to management student mental health and potential use of locus of hope intervention in different public health programs to address different health behaviors.