Does a brief workshop change clinical associate students’ resilience?

Abstract

Background: Clinical associates resilience is important as many will work in adverse circumstances. There is some evidence that educational interventions can improve health care student resilience although it is conflicting. There is no previously published research on educational interventions for resilience in clinical associate students. Objective: To investigate whether a brief resilience workshop could improve resilience in clinical associate students. Methods: A single cohort pre-post design was used. Resilience scores were calculated using the Connor-Davidson 25-item resilience scale in a cohort of clinical associate students before and 8 weeks after a brief resilience workshop. Results: Although no statistically significant changes were observed after a brief resilience workshop, this study adds to the existing body of knowledge on resilience in African health care training. Conclusion: The evidence for education interventions to improve resilience is conflicting and complex. Given the relevance to health care workers and their educators, interventions to improve resilience should continue to be evaluated and the outcomes should be reported.