ABSTRACT
Background and Objective@#The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) subcommittee on students in distress was convened during the COVID-19 pandemic to develop “plans, programs and mechanisms” to deal with students experiencing distress and mental health concerns. This study was conducted as one of the activities of the Subcommittee to inform policy to address the following research objective: to describe the experiences, perceptions, and knowledge of both students and faculty members of UP Manila regarding distress.@*Methods@#An online survey tool was created using the results from seven online focus group discussions among 20 faculty of UP Manila. The survey was conducted for one month among faculty and students sampled from the seven colleges of UP Manila and the three extension campuses of the Schools of Health Sciences. The different categories which were consistently perceived as important by both faculty and students as well as those with disparity in the perceptions between faculty and students were described and discussed.@*Results@#A total of 136 faculty (F) and 290 students (S) participated in the study, representing 39% vs 98% (F vs S) of the target sample, respectively. Results showed that among the effects of stressors for students, avoidance of schoolwork (F79 vs S70.3%) and sleep disturbance (F79.4 vs S72.4%), were perceived by both faculty and students as the most frequently perceived response of students to stress.Among the causes of stress, unclear boundaries between school and home (F73.5 vs S63.1%), family duties (F76.5 vs S50.7%), lack of socialization (F89 vs S57.6%), limited recreational activity (F76.5 vs S64.8%), adapting to new ways of socialization (F67.6 vs S53.8%), and internet signal (F99.3 vs S88.3%) were perceived by both faculty and students as the most frequently perceived causes of stress. Among the coping mechanisms, connecting with friends online (F86.8 vs S69.7%), listening to music (F72.8 vs S78.3%), browsing social media (F82.4 vs S81%), viewing movies (F84.6 vs S74.5%), and sleeping or resting (F67.6 vs S84.1%) were perceived by both faculty and students as the most employed by students to cope with stress.Results also show that there were marked disparities in the perceptions of faculty and students. Among the effects of stressors, the largest disparities were in non-performance in academics (F86 vs S51.7%) and academic failure (F76.5 vs S53.8%). Of the causative factors, the largest disparities were in the areas of death (F94.1 vs S14.5%) or sickness in the family (F66.9 vs S0%), family issues (F82.4 vs S24.5%), financial concerns (F89 vs S36.9%), absence of physical connectedness and interaction, (F94.9 vs S23.8%) lack of socialization (F89 vs S57.6%), owning a gadget (F73.5 vs S22.1%), and lack of funds for the internet (F79.4 vs S22.4%).Among the support systems available in the university (psychosocial, academic and wellness activities of the colleges), 70% of the faculty perceived that the students were aware of the support process offered by the university. In contrast, 28% of students were aware of the support services offered to them. @*Conclusion@#This study shows that UP Manila faculty and students perceived stress due to the effects of COVID-19 on teaching, learning, and everyday living. Distress among student respondents was commonly perceived to be caused by family concerns, environmental restrictions, connectivity issues, and experiencing a sense of lack. While support services and mental health programs have been in place within the university, only 28% of students perceive that students in distress were aware of the process in receiving support.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Mental Health , COVID-19 , EducationABSTRACT
Background@#Majority of recent deaths in the Philippines were attributed to noncommunicable diseases. While adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables can potentially decrease the burden of some of these noncommunicable diseases, health promotion and education interventions have also shown to increase the fruit and vegetable intake that will help prevent certain heart diseases and cancer.@*Objective@#This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a self-management intervention on psychosocial variables and fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) of public school teachers in Negros Oriental, Philippines.@*Methodology@#The study utilized the Solomon Four Group Design. The psychosocial variables were derived from Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. FVI was measured using a food frequency questionnaire. An assessment of interaction between the intervention and pretest, group comparison tests, and nested ANOVA approach was performed.@*Results@#Teachers from 44 schools were included in the analysis; 112 were in the intervention group and 116 in the control group. Results indicate no significant interaction between treatment and pre-test group (F[1,224]=0.15, p=0.703) and no significant differences in the psychosocial variables scores and FVI of the intervention and control groups (p=>0.05). Significant findings in two of four psychosocial variables, particularly diet-related attitude (t=2.412, p=0.009) and knowledge regarding the recommended FVI (Fisher's exact test p=0.010), and mean FVI (t=1.898, p=0.031) were only found using data from the posttest-only intervention group who were able to attend the lecture-workshop and control group. Conclusion: The study found no evidence of pretest sensitization. There was insufficient evidence to conclude that there were differences in FVI and psychosocial variables of the intervention and control groups postintervention.