Measuring wellness change in undergraduate students
Charlene Brown1, Brooks Applegate2, Christine Seburg1
1Rinehart Institute, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.
Journal of American College Health : J of ACH
|January 5, 2022
Summary
The Holistic Wellness Assessment (HWA) effectively detected changes in student well-being after a 12-week course. Six of eight HWA factors showed significant improvements, demonstrating curriculum sensitivity.
Area of Science:
- Health and Education
- Psychometrics
- Curriculum Development
Background:
- Holistic wellness education is increasingly integrated into undergraduate curricula.
- Assessing the impact of such courses requires validated measurement tools.
- The Holistic Wellness Assessment (HWA) was developed to measure various wellness dimensions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if the Holistic Wellness Assessment (HWA) can identify changes within individuals after completing a 12-week undergraduate holistic wellness course.
- To evaluate the sensitivity of the HWA to curriculum-induced changes in students.
- To provide a tool for instructors and students to assess the impact of wellness education.
Main Methods:
- A single-group pretest-post-test design was employed with 235 undergraduate students.
- Changes in eight factors of the HWA were assessed before and after the 12-week course.
- Dependent t-tests, adjusted for false discovery rate, were used for statistical analysis.
Main Results:
- Significant changes were observed in six out of the eight HWA factors.
- These findings indicate that the HWA is sensitive to the effects of the holistic wellness curriculum.
- No significant changes were noted in the remaining two factors.
Conclusions:
- The HWA is a viable instrument for pre/post-testing in holistic wellness education.
- The curriculum demonstrated effectiveness in positively influencing multiple dimensions of student well-being.
- Further research can explore the specific curriculum components influencing the observed changes.
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