Impact of Mindfulness Sessions and Weekly Wellness Messages on Pharmacy Students' Perceived Stress and Resilience.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of mindfulness sessions and weekly wellness messages embedded in course content on pharmacy students' well-being as measured by resilience and perceived stress scale.

METHODS

Pharmacy students enrolled in 2 required courses participated in in-class mindfulness sessions and weekly wellness messages for 10 weeks to improve their physical and mental well-being. The study was conducted with 2 student class cohorts in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years. Students' resilience and perceived stress levels were measured using the Connor-Davidson resilience scale-10 and perceived stress scale-10, respectively, before and after the wellness intervention. Additionally, students' perceptions of the intervention's helpfulness were collected in the end-of-the-semester course evaluations.

RESULTS

Following the intervention, participants (n = 30) demonstrated a significant increase in resilience scores (27.33 SD 5.19 vs 24.77 SD 4.89, Cohen's d = 0.54) and a statistically insignificant reduction in perceived stress scores (17.43 SD 5.18 vs 19.00 SD 6.09, Cohen's d = 0.24) compared to preintervention levels. Collated end-of-the-semester course evaluations indicated that 76.35% (113/148) and 68.92% (102/148) of students found the in-class mindfulness sessions and weekly wellness messages, respectively, helpful. Thematic analysis of students' comments revealed that mindfulness sessions promoted stress reduction, improved focus, and stress management. Wellness messages were associated with increased optimism, resilience, and focused attention among students.

CONCLUSION

Integrating wellness activities (such as mindfulness sessions and wellness messages), into the course content can enhance well-being by improving students' resilience and focused attention.