FEATURE STUDENT EDUCATION
was achieved through posting suggestions or challenges focusing on aspects of self-care using ‘ The six dimensions of wellbeing ’ framework ( Clouston 2015 ).
The team would attend weekly meetings to discuss appropriate content for the ‘ Wellbeing Wednesdays ’, then allocate different members of the team to upload relevant posts depending on the theme of the week .
Posts included tips on mindfulness , stretches and exercises that could be done at home , relaxation and ideas for healthy eating . This resulted in more interactions relating to student wellbeing and photographs of students practising self-care activities , which further promoted engagement within the group . Dion states : ‘ Our hope is to welcome level five students into the current team in order to improve the sustainability of “ Wellbeing Wednesdays ” and provide them with additional opportunities to facilitate peer support .’
The Facebook group continues to thrive as the pandemic and consequent lockdowns remain ongoing , but there is a question as to whether it will continue when students return to campus .
Nonetheless , if the group makes a positive impact even just for this difficult period of time , then that will mean that the objectives have been met and it will be classed as a resounding success by all involved .
Occupational therapy student Jenni Evans reflects : ‘ The start of lockdown was a big change for us as students , we needed to adapt very quickly to a whole new style of teaching , and the lack of contact with other students and academic staff was really felt by our whole cohort .
‘ There was a lot of uncertainty about how long it would last and how our university experience would be impacted . When Rachel approached students about setting up the group with the idea for cohorts to be able to support and interact with each other , I was keen to be involved . ‘
She adds : ‘ A small group of student volunteers met virtually with Rachel to begin to plan the kind of content that we wanted for the group and how the group would run . We wanted to ensure that students saw the group as a fun and relaxed environment where they could share ideas and tips with each other , so it was important that this was something that was run by students for students .
‘ With it being the beginning of the academic year , we knew that there would be new students starting and anticipated there would be a lot of questions and uncertainty on adapting to university and recognised that it can be challenging enough without the added pressure of a pandemic .
‘ The first few weeks we planned our posts to encourage other students to engage and also get to know some of the other cohorts . We started with fun tasks , such as using emojis to spell out where we lived , quizzes , tips on getting to know Cardiff and university life .
‘ As the group has grown , students have begun to share their own ideas and these have included occupational therapy related articles , CPD activities or fun games that others can get involved with from home . It has been great to get to know other cohorts and I feel that it has really helped us as students to support each other in a way that we may not have before .’
References
Watermeyer R , Crick T , Knight C and Goodall J ( 2020 ) COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities : Afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration . Higher Education , pp . 1-19
Clouston TJ ( 2015 ) Challenging stress , burnout and rustout : Finding balance in busy lives . Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Rachel Rowlands , lecturer in occupational therapy , Cardiff University , and Dion Sutton and Jenni Evans , level six occupational therapy students , Cardiff University
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32 OTnews May 2021