A Mindfulness Program Addressing Sleep Quality and Stress: Transition to a Telehealth Format for Higher Education Students During COVID-19

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2022.6439

Keywords:

Life stress, Occupational therapy, Sleep habits, Students, Telehealth

Abstract

Many higher education students report sleep problems, further exemplified along with stress at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Promising evidence supports the use of mindfulness programming, although synchronous telehealth sessions have not been adequately examined. This exploratory eight-session telehealth mindfulness program utilized a pretest-posttest quantitative design to examine changes in sleep quality and perceived stress for 16 higher education students enrolled at a health professions-focused university. Sleep quality changes were measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Z=-3.234, p=0.0012, d=-0.808) and perceived stress with the Perceived Stress Scale (Z=-3.102, p=0.0019, d=-0.776), both of which were significant. The results suggest that synchronous mindfulness programming delivered via telehealth has the potential to improve sleep quality and perceived stress in students, however, future studies should consider the use of objective measurements of sleep duration and quality, and a control group.

  

Author Biographies

Sara Benham, Moravian University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Bethlehem, PA USA

Sara has worked for over 15 years as an Occupational Therapist in inpatient rehabilitation settings and she is an Assistant Professor at Moravian University. Her specialization is in assistive technology and she holds an advanced certification as an Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) from the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). Sara specializes in stroke neuro-rehabilitation through practice, research, and educational outreach.  Sara directs her research in pursuit of how technology may enable clients to increase participation in meaningful occupations. She has peer-reviewed publications on a variety of technological enhancements for performance across the lifespan, including telerehabilitation, virtual reality, electronic tablet technologies, aids for community mobility, 3D printing, and has published a textbook chapter on applications of technology for pediatrics. Sara has presented her work nationally and at the state level for over 25 presentations. In regards to national leadership, Sara serves as the Technology Coordinator for the American Association of Occupational Therapy (AOTA) Rehabilitation & Disability Special Interest Section (SIS), as a reviewer for the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, and serves on the Executive Committee for the Technology in Rehabilitation Networking Group of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM). 

Nabila Enam, University of the Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Nabila worked as a full-time clinician for many years prior to transitioning to academia. Most of her work has been with long-term care in community re-entry with adult traumatic brain injury population. Her clinical experiences also extended to inpatient and acute care facilities. She has served as a Senior Occupational Therapist. She continues to work as a per-diem therapist at a local hospital. Her research aims are to examine sleep and wellness across the lifespan.

Samanvita Ivaturi, Hackensack Meridian Health Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shrewsbury, NJ, USA

Samanvita graduated with her DrOT in 2021 and now practices as an Occupational Therapist for Hackensack Meridian Health Nursing and Rehabilitation. 

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Published

2022-05-25

How to Cite

Benham, S., Enam, N., & Ivaturi, S. (2022). A Mindfulness Program Addressing Sleep Quality and Stress: Transition to a Telehealth Format for Higher Education Students During COVID-19. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2022.6439

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Clinical Practice - COVID 19

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