(21) A Ten-Week Wellness Intervention Promotes Pharmacy Students’ Well-being

Primary Author(s)

Shankar Munusamy, MS (Pharm), PhD (he/him/his)

Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Drake University
Des Moines, Iowa, United States

Co-Author(s)

MN

Michael H. Nelson, Ph.D., R.Ph.

Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Des Moines, Iowa, United States
RT

Ronald J. Torry, Ph.D., FAHA

Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology
Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Des Moines, Iowa, United States

Objective : To assess the effect of a 10-week wellness intervention composed of in-class mindfulness sessions and weekly wellness messages on pharmacy students’ resilience and perceived stress.

Methods: Pharmacy students enrolled in Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences (P1) and Principles of Drug Action II (P2) were offered mindfulness sessions at the beginning of each class session and received weekly wellness messages for ten weeks designed to improve their physical, mental, and social wellness. Students’ resilience and perceived stress levels were measured using the Connor-Davidson resilience scale-10 and perceived stress scale-10, respectively, before and after ten weeks of exposure to wellness resources. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests were used to compare the mean scores between pre- and post-intervention, with a maximum score of 40 for resilience and perceived stress.

Results: Following the 10-week intervention, P1 students demonstrated a significant increase in resilience scores (from 24.89+/-4.96 to 27.33+/-4.24; p<.023) and a statistically insignificant reduction in perceived stress scores (from 18.33+/-5.41 to 17.22+/-3.42). P2 students demonstrated a similar but statistically insignificant increase in their resilience (from 26.00+/-3.5 to 28.67+/-6.19) and reductions in perceived stress scores (from 18.00+/-5.05 to 16.67+/-5.10). Moreover, 78.57% (22/28) of P1 students and 84.91% (45/53) of P2 students found the in-class mindfulness sessions helpful. Consistent with these findings, 67.86% (19/28) of P1 students and 75.47% (40/53) of P2 students indicated that the content shared in wellness messages was relevant and helpful.

Conclusions: Offering mindfulness sessions in classrooms and sharing wellness messages improves students’ resilience and are perceived positively by students to support their well-being. Embedding wellness interventions within course content may serve as an effective strategy to promote student wellness.