Resilience Programming for Occupational Therapy Students

Effectiveness of Health and Resilience Programming for Occupational Therapy Students

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of integrated health and resiliency programs into the Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational therapy curriculum.

The objectives are to:

1. Determine if students perceive health and resiliency programming as beneficial for their health and well-being
2. Determine if students' lifestyle behaviors, self-esteem, attachment security, and mindfulness improve with health and resiliency programming
3. Determine if students' symptoms of depression and anxiety reduce after participating in health and resiliency programs

Students will engage in resilience programming as part of their regular coursework and be invited to complete pre and post assessments to test the effectiveness of programming.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Health and Wellbeing of Occupational Therapy Students
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Health and resiliency programming

Detailed Description

University students are experiencing more challenges with anxiety, depression, and mental health. Health and resiliency programs embedded into the 3-year course curriculum may improve student health and wellness.

This study will utilize a quasi-experimental design to explore the effectiveness of health and resilience programming for occupational therapy students while they are enrolled in the program. Pre and post data will be gathered through questionnaires. Additionally, qualitative data will be obtained from student discussion board posts/assignments, interviews or focus groups will be used to supplement the quantitative data.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of integrated health and resiliency programs into the Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy curriculum.

Objectives:

Determine if students perceive health and resiliency programming as beneficial for their health and well-being

Determine if students' lifestyle behaviors, self-esteem, attachment security, and mindfulness improve with health and resiliency programming

Determine if students' symptoms of depression and anxiety reduce after participating in health and resiliency programs

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 130
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Dragana Krpalek, PhD; Phone Number: 41340 9095584628; Email: dkrpalek@llu.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Heather Javaherian, OTD; Phone Number: 9095584628; Email: hjavaherian@llu.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Loma Linda, California, United States, 92350
      • Recruiting
      • Loma Linda Universtiy
      • Contact: Dragana Krpalek, PhD; Phone Number: 909-558-4628; Email: dkrpalek@llu.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Dragana Krpalek, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• students enrolled in the Entry Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Loma Linda University
• Enrolled during June 2023 to June 2029
• Between 18-65 years of age
• Of any gender
• Of any ethnic background

Exclusion Criteria:

• N/A

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; Occupational therapy students will engage in health and resiliency programming as part of their course work over their three year program.	Behavioral: Health and resiliency programming; Students will engage in resilience programming as part of their regular coursework including mindfulness training, lifestyle medicine interventions, and creating a coping plan.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Health Promoting Lifestyle II (Walker, Sechrist, & Pender, 1987)	This questionnaire contains 52 statements about respondents' present way of life or personal habits. Respondents are asked to respond to each item as accurately as possible on a 4-point Likert scale (never, sometimes, often, routinely). Example items include "Inspect my body at least monthly for physical changes/danger signs".	Three years
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989)	Include a list of 10 statements dealing with general feelings about oneself. Respondents are asked to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree). An example item is "I am able to do things as well as most other people."	Three years
State Adult Attachment Measure (Gillath et al., 2009)	Contains 21 statements concerning how the respondent feels right now in their relationship with others and self. Respondents indicate how much they agree or disagree with the statement as it reflects their current feelings on a 7-point sliding scale with 7 indicating 'agree strongly'. An example statement is "I wish someone close could see me now."	Three years
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001)	Asks respondents to indicate how often they have been bothered by any of the following nine problems listed, over the last 2 weeks. Respondents use a 4-point Likert scale (not at all, several days, more than half the days, nearly everyday). An example statement is "Poor appetite or overeating."	Three years
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7; Williams, 2014)	Asks respondents to indicate how often they have been bothered by any of the following seven problems listed, over the last 2 weeks. Respondents use a 4-point Likert scale (not at all, several days, more than half the days, nearly everyday). An example problem is "Not being able to stop or control worrying."	Three years
15-Facet mindfulness questionnaire (Baer et al., 2008)	Contains 15-items related to mindfulness. Respondents rate how much they agree with each item on a 5-point Likert scale (very often or always, often true, sometimes true, rarely true, very rarely true). An example item is "When I have distressing thoughts or images I just notice them and let them go."	Three years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Loma Linda University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 7, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 12, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 12, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 4, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Population Characteristics; Health
• Other Study ID Numbers: 5220395

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: We plan to share data from the overall group, reporting on averages, ranges and statistical output.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No