IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i5p590-d1388294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of a Pilot Wellness Elective for Master of Public Health Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Blaise Y. O’Malley

    (The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
    Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA)

  • Edgard Etoundi-Ngono

    (The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA)

  • Jianjun Hua

    (Department of Dartmouth Information, Technology and Consulting, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA)

  • Joseph P. Nano

    (The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA)

  • Catherine F. Pipas

    (The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA)

Abstract

Background: Graduate student wellbeing is a public health issue in the United States. The COVID-19 outbreak exacerbated the mental health burden on graduate students worldwide. Culture of Wellness (PH 104) is a 2-week wellbeing elective course that teaches evidence-based wellbeing strategies for graduate students at a university in the United States. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of this pilot wellbeing elective on Master of Public Health students’ mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants included 22 Master of Public Health students from the class of 2021 at a university in the United States. We provided a pre-course survey to students that assessed their perception of their own personal wellbeing, their knowledge about various wellbeing strategies, and their confidence in applying 13 wellbeing strategies before taking the course. Post-course students completed the same survey following course completion, as well as a matching evaluation and a five-month follow up survey. Results: Of the 13 strategies taught, students reported significant improvements in their ability to apply 10 strategies. There was a significant increase in self-reported emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as a significant decrease in burnout. Five months post-course, more than three quarters of respondents used strategies taught in the course on a weekly basis or more. Limitations: This pilot study is limited by its small sample size, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Conclusions: The PH 104 Culture of Wellness course was effective in improving graduate students’ wellbeing and confidence in applying wellbeing strategies

Suggested Citation

  • Blaise Y. O’Malley & Edgard Etoundi-Ngono & Jianjun Hua & Joseph P. Nano & Catherine F. Pipas, 2024. "Evaluation of a Pilot Wellness Elective for Master of Public Health Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-12, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:590-:d:1388294
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/590/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/590/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chris Woolston, 2020. "Signs of depression and anxiety soar among US graduate students during pandemic," Nature, Nature, vol. 585(7823), pages 147-148, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Volken & Annina Zysset & Simone Amendola & Anthony Klein Swormink & Marion Huber & Agnes von Wyl & Julia Dratva, 2021. "Depressive Symptoms in Swiss University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Correlates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Brad M. Barber & Wei Jiang & Adair Morse & Manju Puri & Heather Tookes & Ingrid M. Werner, 2021. "What Explains Differences in Finance Research Productivity during the Pandemic?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(4), pages 1655-1697, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:590-:d:1388294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.