Online holistic program to foster health amongst students: a pilot study in a Portuguese university during COVID-19 pandemic

Elisa Veiga; Raquel Duarte; Inês Capela; Elisabete Pinto; Margarida Silva; Cristina Sá; Luís Sá; Sahra Kunz; Sofia Serra; Henrique Pereira; Bárbara C. Machado; Ana Gomes; Ana Pimenta; Armando Almeida; Patrícia O. Silva; Marta Correia

doi:10.31219/osf.io/a2f5y

Online holistic program to foster health amongst students: a pilot study in a Portuguese university during COVID-19 pandemic

Elisa Veiga, Raquel Duarte, Inês Capela, Elisabete Pinto, Margarida Silva, Cristina Sá, Luís Sá, Sahra Kunz, Sofia Serra, Henrique Pereira, Bárbara C. Machado, Ana Gomes, Ana Pimenta, Armando Almeida, Patrícia O. Silva, Marta Correia

Research output: Working paper › Preprint

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Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several preventive mental health interventions took place to increase the psychological well-being of university students due to the high levels of stress, anxiety and negative emotions experienced in that period. This context reinforced the role of universities in supporting students and preventing the mental health risk factors they faced. In this context a multidisciplinary team of professionals (psychologists, nurses, nutritionists, and artists) in the Portuguese Catholic University, gathered efforts and developed an holistic intervention program for university students based on a mind and body integrated approach. This program of 8 online sessions aims to improve students’ resilience to the psychosocial consequences of COVID-19 pandemic and promote their wellbeing. The twenty university students that participated in this pilot study reported that this intervention improved their emotional self-awareness, their ability to apply self-care strategies, as well as they believed it promoted healthier lifestyle changes. These findings suggest that this program consists in an innovative approach with the potential to promote the psychological health and well-being of university students in adverse circumstances.

Original language	English
Publisher	Open Science Framework
Number of pages	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/a2f5y
Publication status	Published - 11 Dec 2023

Keywords

Wellbeing
University students
Pandemic impact
Multidisciplinary intervention
Positive psychology
Artistic and creative activities

Access to Document

10.31219/osf.io/a2f5yLicence: CC BY

90067519Final published version, 458 KBLicence: CC BY

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/43331Licence: CC BY

1 Finished
2 Active

CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts
Vieira, E. (PI), Nobre da Silva Pais, A. M. (Other career/Public sector), Filipe, C. (Private Sector), Serra, S. (Assistant Professor), Baltazar, A. (Assistant Professor), Lobo, C. (Invited Assistant Professor), Carmona, C. R. (Assistant Professor), Sá, C. (Assistant Professor), Sousa, G. V. E. (Full Professor), Pereira, H. M. (Assistant Professor), Neves, J. (Invited Assistant Professor), Teixeira, J. (Invited Assistant Professor), Gomes, J. A. (Invited Assistant Professor), Carvalho, J. V. (Invited Assistant Professor), Castro, L. (Assistant Professor), Teixeira, L. (Assistant Professor), Aguiar, M. (Assistant Professor), Crespo, N. (Assistant Professor), Camarneiro, N. (Invited Assistant Professor), Costa, P. R. (Invited Assistant Professor), Pestana, P. D. (Invited Assistant Professor), Alves, P. (Invited Assistant Professor), Kunz, S. (Assistant Professor), Neves, S. (Invited Assistant Professor), Coutinho, V. M. (Invited Assistant Professor), Galán-Pérez, A. (Private Sector), Rangel, A. (Professor non-higher education), Natálio, C. (Researcher), Henriques, F. (Researcher), Afonso Lopes, M. I. (Private Sector), Bordalo, R. (Researcher) & Lammeren, S. R. L. V. (Researcher)
1/01/20 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
CEDH: Research Centre for Human Development
Dias, P. (Assistant Professor), Matos, R. (Associate Professor), Carvalho, M. C. (Assistant Professor), Peixtoto, C. E. (Researcher), Pires, C. V. (Researcher), Carneiro, A. (Invited Assistant Professor), Ribeiro, L. M. (Assistant Professor), Barbosa, M. (Assistant Professor), Martins, F. (Invited Assistant Professor), Moreno, A. (Researcher), Costa, M. (Researcher), Andrade, A. (Assistant Professor), Fonseca, A. M. (Associate Professor), Silva, A. (Researcher), Gaspar, A. (Invited Assistant Professor), Machado, B. C. (Assistant Professor), Morais, C. (Invited Assistant Professor), Ribeiro, C. (Assistant Professor), Ribeiro, C. (Assistant Professor), Palmeirão, C. (Assistant Professor), Mesquita, D. (Invited Assistant Professor), Soares, D. (Invited Assistant Professor), Veiga, E. (Assistant Professor), Palha, F. (Assistant Professor), Sobral, F. (Assistant Professor), Cabral, I. (Assistant Professor), Baptista, I. (Associate Professor), Pinto, J. C. (Assistant Professor), Azevedo, J. (Full Professor), Machado, J. (Researcher), Lagarto, J. R. (Researcher), Alves, J. M. (Invited Associate Professor), Ribeiro, L. (Invited Assistant Professor), Campos, L. (Assistant Professor), Orvalho, L. (Researcher), Veríssimo, L. (Assistant Professor), Roldão, M. D. C. (Researcher), Xavier, M. R. (Assistant Professor), Negrão, M. (Assistant Professor), Carvalho, M. (Invited Assistant Professor), Oliveira, M. (Adjunct Professor), Batista, P. (Contracted Doctorate), Oliveira-Silva, P. (Assistant Professor), Pereira, P. (Assistant Professor), Serrão, R. (Researcher), Lima, V. S. (Assistant Professor), Ribeiro, P. (PI) & Rocha, M. M. M. (PI)
1/01/20 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
CIIS: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health
Barros, M. (PI), Rosa, N. (Researcher), Correia, M. J. (Researcher), Caldas, A. C. (Researcher), Amado, J. C. (Researcher), Figueiredo, A. S. (Researcher), Esteves, A. C. (Researcher), Mineiro, A. (Researcher), Abreu, A. M. (Researcher), Duarte, A. S. (Researcher), Almeida, S. F. (Researcher), Correia, A. (Researcher), Moura, A. (Researcher), Almeida, A. (Researcher), Araújo, B. (Researcher), Moura-Netto, C. (Researcher), Ferrito, C. (Researcher), Pais-Vieira, C. (Researcher), Festas, C. (Researcher), Marques-Vieira, C. (Researcher), Catré, D. (Researcher), Nunes, E. (Researcher), Jesus, É. (Researcher), Ribeiro, F. (Researcher), Rosário, F. (Researcher), Fernandes, G. (Researcher), Rato, J. R. (Scholarship holder), Salgado, J. R. (Researcher), Neves-Amado, J. (Researcher), Amendoeira, J. (Researcher), Sá, L. (Researcher), Capelas, M. L. (Researcher), Vieira, M. M. (Researcher), Nunes, M. V. S. (Researcher), Cardoso, M. (Researcher), Veiga, N. J. (Researcher), Fonseca, P. (Researcher), Correia, P. N. (Researcher), Couto, P. (Researcher), Pontífice-Sousa, P. (Researcher), Ravasco, P. (Researcher), Carvalho, P. V. D. (Researcher), Alves, P. (Researcher), Melo, P. (Researcher), Silva, R. (Researcher), Canaipa, R. (Researcher), Noites, R. (Researcher), Rio, R. (Researcher), Almeida, S. (Researcher), Deodato, S. (Researcher), Caldeira, S. (Researcher), Silva, S. (Researcher), Borges, T. (Researcher), Silva, V. (Researcher), Charepe, Z. (Researcher), Rodrigues-Pires, F. (Volunteer), Veludo, F. (Researcher), Carmo, H. (Scholarship holder), Romeiro, J. (Student), Melo, M. (Researcher), Braga, M. (Researcher), Amaral, T. (Researcher), Moreira, M. A. (Researcher), Guerra, N. (Student), Santos, P. (Researcher), Paço, S. (Student), Lynce, S. (Scholarship holder), Miguel, S. (Student), Costa, T. (Researcher), Silva-Neves, V. (Researcher), Silva, A. (Researcher), Carvalho, A. R. (Researcher), Almeida, B. (Researcher), Figueiredo, C. (Researcher), Esteves, E. (Scholarship holder), Araújo, F. M. (Researcher), Garcia, J. G. (Researcher), Santos, L. (Researcher), Santos, N. M. D. (Researcher), Lopes, P. (Researcher), Bornes, R. (Researcher), Silva, R. (Researcher), Costa, S. (Researcher), Silva, S. M. (Researcher), Marques, T. (Researcher), Almeida, A. (Researcher), Santos, M. (Scholarship holder), Santos, P. (Researcher), Miguel, S. (Researcher), Mendes, K. (Researcher), Gomes, A. P. (Researcher), Henriques, J. M. P. (Researcher), Costa, H. A. F. P. (Researcher) & Ribeiro, P. (Researcher)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
1/01/20 → 31/12/24
Project: Research

Cite this

Veiga, E., Duarte, R., Capela, I., Pinto, E., Silva, M., Sá, C., Sá, L., Kunz, S., Serra, S., Pereira, H., Machado, B. C., Gomes, A., Pimenta, A., Almeida, A., Silva, P. O., & Correia, M. (2023). Online holistic program to foster health amongst students: a pilot study in a Portuguese university during COVID-19 pandemic. Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/a2f5y

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abstract = "During the COVID-19 pandemic, several preventive mental health interventions took place to increase the psychological well-being of university students due to the high levels of stress, anxiety and negative emotions experienced in that period. This context reinforced the role of universities in supporting students and preventing the mental health risk factors they faced. In this context a multidisciplinary team of professionals (psychologists, nurses, nutritionists, and artists) in the Portuguese Catholic University, gathered efforts and developed an holistic intervention program for university students based on a mind and body integrated approach. This program of 8 online sessions aims to improve students{\textquoteright} resilience to the psychosocial consequences of COVID-19 pandemic and promote their wellbeing. The twenty university students that participated in this pilot study reported that this intervention improved their emotional self-awareness, their ability to apply self-care strategies, as well as they believed it promoted healthier lifestyle changes. These findings suggest that this program consists in an innovative approach with the potential to promote the psychological health and well-being of university students in adverse circumstances.",

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Online holistic program to foster health amongst students: a pilot study in a Portuguese university during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts

CEDH: Research Centre for Human Development

CIIS: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health

Cite this