Abstract:
BACKGROUND : Clinical associates resilience is important as many will work in adverse
circumstances. There is some evidence that educational interventions can improve health care
student resilience although it is conflicting. There is no previously published research on
educational interventions for resilience in clinical associate students.
OBJECTIVE : To investigate whether a brief resilience workshop could improve resilience in
clinical associate students.
METHODS : A single cohort pre-post design was used. Resilience scores were calculated using
the Connor-Davidson 25-item resilience scale in a cohort of clinical associate students before
and 8 weeks after a brief resilience workshop.
RESULTS : Although no statistically significant changes were observed after a brief resilience
workshop, this study adds to the existing body of knowledge on resilience in African health
care training.
CONCLUSION : The evidence for education interventions to improve resilience is conflicting and
complex. Given the relevance to health care workers and their educators, interventions to
improve resilience should continue to be evaluated and the outcomes should be reported.
