(190) Integrating Wellness Activities into Courses Promotes Pharmacy Students’ Resilience

Objective : To investigate the effect of integrating wellness activities such as in-class mindfulness sessions and weekly wellness messages in pharmacy courses on students’ resilience and perceived stress.

Methods: A ten-week wellness intervention consisting of mindfulness sessions (at the start of each class session) and weekly wellness messages were provided to all pharmacy students enrolled in two courses - Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences (P1) and Principles of Drug Action II (P2) - over two student cohorts in 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. Students’ resilience and perceived stress levels were measured in 30 volunteers using the Connor-Davidson resilience scale-10 and perceived stress scale-10, respectively. The differences in the mean resilience and perceived stress scores between the start and end of 10 weeks were compared using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests. All students enrolled in the courses were given the opportunity to rate their experiences on end-of-the-semester course evaluations.

Results: Students (n=30) who participated in the wellness intervention demonstrated a significant increase in resilience scores (24.77+/-4.89 to 27.33+/-5.19; p<.006) and a statistically insignificant reduction in perceived stress scores (19.00+/-6.09 to 17.43+/-5.18). Collated end-of-the-semester course evaluations revealed that 76.35% (113/148) of students found the in-class mindfulness sessions helpful, while 73.42% (116/158) indicated that the value of time spent on mindfulness in class was either an efficient use of class time or helped them stay focused and attentive. For the weekly wellness messages delivered outside of class, most students (68.92%; 102/148) indicated that the content shared was relevant and helpful.

Conclusions: Integrating structured wellness activities (in-class mindfulness sessions and wellness messages outside of class) into the course content can foster well-being by enhancing students’ resilience and promoting classroom engagement.