Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Capstone Project
Project Type
Quantitative Study
Degree Name
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
Program
Occupational Therapy
Program Chair
Gina Tucker-Roghi, OTD, OTR/L, BCG
Faculty Advisor
Caroline Umeda, PhD, OTR/L
Abstract
Occupational Therapy (OT) students and healthcare workers face significant stress due to academic and professional demands. This stress, if prolonged, can lead to burnout and exhaustion. Resilience, the ability to adapt to challenging experiences, can mitigate the effects of stress and burnout. Resilience has been linked to mindfulness, self-compassion, social support/ connection, and physical activity. While resilience programs have shown positive effects for college students and healthcare providers, there is limited research on resilience programming tailored for OT students. This study aimed to fill this research gap by assessing OT students’ utilization of and satisfaction with a co-curricular resilience program offered by the OT department at Dominican University of California. This study also sought to assess the perceived impacts of this resilience program. To meet these objectives, this research project employed a 57-item survey developed using Qualtrics. Results showed that an Instagram page was the most utilized resilience resource and that participants were most satisfied with group hiking events. Group meditation sessions had the greatest impact on participants’ ability to focus on the present moment, while group hiking events had the greatest impact on participants’ sense of belonging, ability to cope with stress, and ability to extend kindness to themselves. This study’s results demonstrate the value of the co-curricular resilience program offered through the Dominican OT department. These results may inform future resilience programming at Dominican or the formation of new resilience programs at other higher education settings.