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Stress and Coping Among Health Professions Students During COVID-19: A Perspective on the Benefits of Mindfulness.

Christina M. Luberto, Janice H Goodman, Bonnie Halvorson, Amy Z Wang, Aviad Haramati

Global Advances in Health and Medicine December 13, 2020 DOI: 10.1177/2164956120977827 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Population Health professions students enrolled in an online course, "Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers," during the Spring 2020 semester
Intervention Mindfulness meditation
Topics Meditation
Keywords Stress Coping
Key findings Students reported COVID-19-related stressors across physical health, mental health, societal implications, and academic and clinical training disruptions. All students reported that mindfulness practice helped them cope by improving focus, appreciation, cognitive de-centering, and non-reactivity. The authors suggest mindfulness training may be a useful approach to promoting student well-being during a crisis.

Abstract

Many health professions students experience elevated stress and burnout during their professional education and training. With the added challenges of COVID-19, students face a whole new set of stressors. Students in the Spring 2020 semester of our online academic course, "Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers," began confronting the COVID-19 crisis after several weeks of mindfulness meditation practice as part of the course. Students discussed their experiences using the course discussion boards, providing a unique opportunity to explore the practical application of mindfulness for student well-being during a crisis. Themes from the discussion board revealed a range of novel stressors and concerns due to COVID-19 (physical health, mental health, societal implications, academic and clinical training disruptions). All students reported that mindfulness practice helped them cope by improving specific mindfulness skills (focus, appreciation, cognitive de-centering, non-reactivity). Mindfulness training may be a useful approach to promoting student well-being during a crisis.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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