Abstract
Lifestyle Medicine (LM) is defined as the evidence-based clinical practice focused on behavioral changes to promote health and reverse lifestyle related chronic illnesses. Although LM is increasingly being added to graduate medical education, its incorporation into undergraduate health professional education is limited. The evidence showing the effect of lifestyle related comorbid illnesses on COVID-19 mortality heightens the importance of incorporating LM into health professional education now more than ever. The goal of this project was to introduce undergraduate nursing students to LM through the addition of an experiential lifestyle modification assignment into a human physiology course. Students were instructed to select a lifestyle modification goal, implement, and track their progress meeting this goal for a two-week period, and submit a reflection of this experience including a table/graph of their data. We hypothesized that completion of this assignment would enhance student's learning of physiology. Following IRB approval, students were requested to complete a survey and allow use of their assignment for this educational research study. This survey included questions to assess demographic information, student perception of the assignment and a validated self-efficacy questionnaire. Of the 125 students who completed the assignment, 53 completed the survey and 50 agreed to allow analysis of their assignment for the study. Most participants were female (89%), not currently caring for children (80%), single (77%), unemployed (66%), white (56%) and under 24 years of age (53%). Exercise was the most frequently selected category of lifestyle modification goals followed by nutrition, stress reduction, sleep, and avoidance of risky substances. Almost all students reported that this activity enhanced their learning of physiology (97%) with a trend of higher ratings of the effect of this activity on learning of physiology for students under 24 years of age compared to students 24 and older, although this difference was not significant. Similarly, most students reported that completing a chart of their data and summarizing this data helped them learn how to interpret and analyze data (94%) with significantly higher ratings of this effect for younger students (P < 0.05). Self-efficacy scores were not significantly different between age groups with an overall score of 35.5 ± 4.6 (Scale 0-40, higher score-greater self-efficacy). Interestingly, stress reduction was a common physiological impact reported by students across all categories of lifestyle modification. Results of this study suggest that undergraduate nursing student's experience with implementing their own lifestyle modification reinforces learning of physiology with the added benefit of promoting student wellness. Given the ongoing data indicating the negative impact of COVID-19 on student mental health, the potential benefit of a lifestyle modification assignment on student wellness is arguably as important as its impact on physiological education.
Published Version
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