scholarly journals Stress reduction in a high stress population: A service-learning project

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly J. McClure Brenchley ◽  
Lynn M. Donahue

Psychology students delivered stress and coping workshops to homeless adolescent mothers as part of a college service-learning project. In this vulnerable and underserved population, stress reduction is critical. Service-learning was used as an avenue to enhance student learning and growth while helping meet this need in our community. The psychology students developed deeper learning, professional skills, and social awareness. The adolescent mothers developed stress reduction skills that they were able to successfully implement. Challenges and recommendations for the implementation of similar service-learning projects are discussed.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy R. Jordan ◽  
Jagdish Khubchandani ◽  
Michael Wiblishauser

Stress and coping abilities influence the health and work performance of nurses. However, little is known about the combined influence of stress perception and perceived coping adequacy and its impact on the health of nurses. This study examined the relationship between stress, coping, and the combined influences of perceived stress and coping abilities on health and work performance. A valid and reliable questionnaire was completed by 120 nurses in a Midwestern hospital in the USA. In general, the nurses were not healthy: 92% had moderate-to-very high stress levels; 78% slept less than 8 hours of sleep per night; 69% did not exercise regularly; 63% consumed less than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day; and 22% were classified as binge drinkers. When confronted with workplace stress, 70% of nurses reported that they consumed more junk food and 63% reported that they consumed more food than usual as a way of coping. Nurses in the “high stress/poor coping” group had the poorest health outcomes and highest health risk behaviors compared to those in other groups. The combined variables of perceived stress and perceived coping adequacy influenced the health of nurses. Therefore, worksite health promotion programs for nurses should focus equally on stress reduction, stress management, and the development of healthy coping skills.


Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie A. Medeiros ◽  
Jennifer Guzmán

Trends in higher education pedagogy increasingly point to the importance of transformational experiences as the capstone of liberal arts education. Practitioners of ethnography, the quintessential transformational experience of the social sciences, are well-positioned to take the lead in designing courses and term projects that afford undergraduate students opportunities to fundamentally reshape their understanding of the social world and their own involvement within it. Furthermore, in the United States, colleges and universities have become proponents of service learning as a critical component of a holistic educational experience. In this article, we describe how service learning can be incorporated into training students in ethnographic field methods as a means to transformational learning and to give them skills they can use beyond the classroom in a longer trajectory of civic participation. We discuss strategies, opportunities, and challenges associated with incorporating service learning into courses and programs training students in ethnographic field methods and propose five key components for successful ethnographic service learning projects. We share student insights about the transformational value of their experiences as well as introduce some ethical concerns that arise in ethnographic service-learning projects.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly A. Peterson ◽  
Jean Yockey ◽  
Peggy Larsen ◽  
Diana Twidwell ◽  
Kathy Jorgensen

Author(s):  
Smita Smita

A descriptive study was carried out for the purpose to investigate the level of stress and coping and to determine the relationship between stress and various coping mechanism among infertile women in selected two infertility clinic to find out the variables and their significance that may be related to study including (age, educational level, occupation, duration of infertility, …ect). The study sample consisted of 200 infertile women who were diagnosed as infertile and who were visiting infertility clinic during the data collection and met the inclusion criteria for the study. Self-developed likert scale for assessing the level of stress and coping in infertile women In this study, we used inferential and Descriptive Statistics, mean, standard deviation and mean percentage ,Correlation Coefficient Pearson, anova and unpaired t test were used in the study, the results showed that there is a moderately positive relationship between infertility related stress and coping mechanism, 47.21% was the total stress in total population, 40% have mild stress, 49.50% have moderate stress and 10.5% have severe stress. 53% have moderate coping 24% have inadequate coping 23% have adequate coping. The findings of the current study found that there is statistical significances at p>0.05. The study found significant association in age and year of infertility with stress calculated value was greater than tabulated value at p>0.05 type of family,income,substance use and exposure to stress reduction therapy have no association because the calculated value is less than tabulated value at p>0.05 and no significance in occupation, education and income per month. type of family, substance use, exposure to stress reduction technique, income with coping at p>0.05. Psychological aspect of infertility should be given more attention, and be considered in all stages of treatment and medical interventions to decrease the psychological suffering of the infertile women and to prevent developing of the psychological disorder.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Andrews ◽  
Susan Leonard

Universities engage students in traditional service-learning projects that often yield “good feelings”, even a savior mentality, but typically leave the root causes of social justice issues unexamined and untouched. In contrast to traditional service-learning, critical service-learning bridges this gap with an explicit focus on justice and equity, situating scholars’ work with the community rather than for it. A public university in the southeast offered a doctoral course that focused on critical service-learning in the context of a professional development school partnership. Designed as an ethnographic multi-case study, each graduate student in the on-site course represents a case. Data collection included interviews, observations, written reflections, and artefacts. The analysis revealed that developing critical service-learning projects with educators—rather than for them—supported participants’ critical consciousness. Findings and discussion highlight that facilitating community-engaged scholarship through critical service-learning impacts graduate students and middle-grades educators’ research interests, work, and future directions.


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