Student Stress Management and Wellness Programs among Colleges of Pharmacy

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Student Well-being
• Mental Health Interventions

Background:

• Student stress is a significant concern in higher education.
• Colleges of pharmacy are increasingly focusing on student well-being.
• Understanding current interventions is crucial for improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe programmatic stress-related interventions provided by colleges of pharmacy.
• To identify common assessment methods and intervention formats.
• To explore faculty/staff training and involvement in student stress remediation.

Main Methods:

• A paper-based questionnaire was distributed to 80 college teams from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
• The survey assessed student stress levels, interventions, impacts, faculty/staff training, and institutional demographics.
• Data was collected from 40 responding college teams.

Main Results:

• Over half of institutions (57.5%) measure student stress levels.
• Common interventions include counseling (95%), academic advising (82%), and exercise support (77%).
• Most schools lack formal faculty/staff training on student stress and do not assess intervention impacts.

Conclusions:

• Colleges of pharmacy are actively addressing student stress, but significant variability exists.
• Barriers to improving assessment and interventions need to be identified.
• Further research should focus on mediating barriers and developing effective coping assessments.