ABSTRACT
The significance of mental health inequities globally is illustrated by higher rates of anxiety and depression amongst racial and ethnic minority populations as well as individuals of lower socioeconomic status. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these pre-existing mental health inequities. With rising mental health concerns, arts engagement offers an accessible, equitable opportunity to combat mental health inequities and impact upstream determinants of health. As the field of public health continues to shift its focus toward social ecological strategies, the social ecological model of health offers an approach that prioritizes social and structural determinants of health. To capture the impacts of arts engagement, this paper creates an applied social ecological model of health while aiming to advocate that engaging in the arts is a protective and rehabilitative behavior for mental health.
ABSTRACT
Accurate interpretation of radiographic images is critical to diagnosing clinical patients. Remote instruction in radiology has become more common at veterinary colleges as academic institutions struggle to fill open veterinary radiologist positions and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study sought to gather the feedback of fourth-year veterinary students via pre- and post-study surveys (n = 45) and focus groups (n = 7) about a newly implemented 2-week long radiology rotation. Ninety-eight percent of students reported having taken an online course before, and on both pre- and post-study surveys, students commonly reported feeling interested, determined, and attentive. On average, students reported that they were neither more nor less engaged than they would have been in an in-person course and that they understood the material neither better nor worse than they would have in an in-person course. Students reported that the key to their success was primarily hard work; secondarily, instructor availability and student ability were important. Students did not rate luck as having much influence on their success. Although diagnostic imaging can be a challenging subject to master, students effectively learned this subject through online instruction. They provided feedback for the course's continued improvement; their comments centered around improved interactivity, including providing automated quiz questions' answers and increased instructor availability. Data collected in this study will help to guide further development of the radiology course.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pivot to distance learning left many higher education institutions scrambling to find the resources to shift materials online and instructors making significant modifications to their courses to adapt. This study is the critical initial step in explaining any relationships between the responsive move to remote learning and academic performance and stress, anxiety, and depression. An eight-month longitudinal cohort study design with an action research methodology was conducted over four waves from June 2020 to January 2021. Participants had the option to be involved with semi-structured, in-depth interviews via Zoom. The qualitative results from the in-depth themes include: health & wellness, relationships & connectedness, transition home, classroom changes, learning & participation, extra-curriculars, COVID-19, virtual challenges, academic performance, and self-regulation. Thus, through thoughtful and intentional accommodations, instructors and students may create a new digital space for learning to improve upon motivational barriers and retaining content.