A therapeutic lifestyle changes elective and its impact on student knowledge, empathy, and perceptions.

Curr Pharm Teach Learn

Wingate University School of Pharmacy, 515 North Main Street, Wingate, NC 28174, United States. Electronic address:

Published: January 2024

Background And Purpose: Engaging in therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) such as healthy eating and physical activity can help prevent or manage various conditions. This study's purpose is to describe a TLC elective course and examine its impact on student knowledge, empathy, and perceptions of confidence with lifestyle modifications counseling.

Educational Activity And Setting: An elective was developed to increase student pharmacists' knowledge and confidence in educating patients about lifestyle modifications. Activities were intended to foster student empathy. A questionnaire, given at course initiation and conclusion, incorporated a knowledge quiz and Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale (KCES). Student perceptions of confidence were assessed at course conclusion.

Findings: Knowledge significantly increased (P < .001) from 54.1% at course initiation to 75% at course conclusion when comparing average quiz scores. Average KCES scores (out of 105 points) were 84.9 (n = 26) and 86 (n = 22) at course initiation and conclusion, respectively, showing no significant change in empathy scores (P = .01). For each course topic, most students reported being somewhat or very confident in their TLC counseling abilities at course conclusion.

Summary: An elective course significantly improved TLC knowledge and perceived confidence regarding TLC counseling was high at course conclusion. Although there was no significant change in KCES scores, including dedicated TLC instruction in pharmacy curricula can help students build knowledge and confidence in TLC counseling in preparation for pharmacy practice.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2023.12.004DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

therapeutic lifestyle
8
lifestyle changes
8
impact student
8
student knowledge
8
knowledge empathy
8
empathy perceptions
8
perceptions confidence
8
lifestyle modifications
8
student
5
knowledge
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!