| dc.description.abstract | Popular discourse identifies education as the cure for many of society’s ills. However,
surviving university is often seen as a period in which students face a unique array of
challenges. Many students begin their tertiary education as holistically-well individuals, but
due to the stressors related to University, students often show incremental signs of
psychological, physical and emotional distress. These often lead to a decrease in academic
competence and severe professional ramifications. The aim of this study was to identify
design principles and explore the perceptions of professionals concerning possible
implementation strategies that could be suitable for Higher Educational Institutions,
particularly Health Science and Medical School students. A qualitative, three-phase multi-approach
design was used in this study. Phase one was conducted by means of an explorative
desktop literature review, there after phase 2 included a self-management, self-coaching and
appreciative coaching concept map, that was aligned to concepts within the current
individual wellness literature and in phase 3, Appreciative Inquiry based focus group
discussions were held with various professional in the field of coaching, education, and
healthcare. Wellness programmes are impacted by the fact that Higher Education Institutions
face unique challenges such as time, financial constraints, and an already overloaded
curriculum. Five design principles were described, and various implementation strategies
explored. There is a fundamental necessity to address the distortion of wellness within HE.
A key finding in this study suggests that combining self-coaching, appreciative coaching
and self-management principles could facilitate a successful individual wellness programme
for higher educational students. | en_US |
