Factors supporting the wellbeing of undergraduate students in health sciences

Abstract

This study aimed to describe and explore factors that support the wellbeing of undergraduate students in a Faculty of Health Sciences through a positive psychology framework. This study forms part of a broader project at the university known as the Wellbeing Project. The rationale for undertaking the study was to help deepen the understanding of the factors supporting the wellbeing of undergraduate students in the Health Sciences.

Wellbeing is a subjective understanding of one’s interpretation of an occurring phenomenon that has impacted one. For this reason, this study followed a convenience and purposive sampling method in selecting participants. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in various academic programmes in the Health Sciences. These students were purposefully selected from different contextual backgrounds to try to obtain a more holistic, insightful explanation of factors affecting their wellbeing. Initially undergraduate students from the Health Sciences participated in face-to-face rapid interviews and a focus group session. For this master’s degree study one focus group session (n=6) in the Faculty of Health Sciences and 427 face-to-face brief interviews with undergraduate students in the Health Sciences were analysed.

Theoretically, the positive emotions(P), engagement (E), relationships(R), meaning (M), accomplishment (A), health (H) theoretical model guided the study. In the interviews students were able to briefly describe the distinctive factors that contributed to their own wellbeing, in answer to the question “Which factors support your wellbeing at the university?” In the focus group session, they were given an opportunity to provide a more comprehensive and extensive explanation of factors that affected their wellbeing. The study reports on findings from a secondary analysis of both the interviews and the focus group.