Date Presented 03/22/24
Participants at Keuka College had an opportunity to engage in a walk and talk walking program with an intent of experiencing leisure participation and self-identify strategies to manage their physical and mental health needs.
Primary Author and Speaker: Beth Jordan
THE PURPOSE: participants at Keuka College engaged in a walking program with an intent of experiencing leisure participation and helping them to self-identify strategies to manage their physical and mental health needs.
DESIGN: Quasi-experimental pretest / posttest mixed methods designs were utilized. Participants were recruited via college-wide newsletters, recommendation from the college’s wellness center and personal invitation from researcher. All participants were at least 18 years of age, either students enrolled full-time at Keuka College and lived on campus or employees of the college.
METHODS: The procedures used for this study included pre and post test ratings of the students’ level of worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), anxiety (GAD7), and self-efficacy (GSES) using the identified tools. Following giving consent and completing the three tools (pre-test), participants walked approximately one mile one to two times per week, 1:1 with researcher or in a small group with other participants and researcher. Follow up tools (post-test) were be completed when students ceased walking. Data was collected over 12 months but divided up by semester.
RESULTS: Descriptive statistics was used to disseminate information from pretest/posttest questionnaires. Quantitative data will be shared using graphs and tables for each individual in the study to share pretest and posttest results and frequency of their time engaged in the intervention. Qualitative results will be shared in a descriptive manner to identify common themes amongst individuals results from questionnaires in addition to context and content discussed.
CONCLUSION: Quantitative results showed little to no statistical difference. Qualitative results received through participant responses were significant for showing the benefit of engagement in leisure participation, participants sharing improved self-efficacy and methods of dealing with worry and anxiety as related to college stressors.
References
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Pauline, J. (2013). Physical activity behaviors, motivation and self-efficacy among college students. Project Initiative.
Salas-Gomez, D., Fernadez-Gorgojo, M., Pozueta, A., Diaz-Cebellos, I., Lamarian, M., Perez, C., Kazimierczak, M., Sanchez-Juan, P. (2020). Physical activity as associated with better executive function in university students. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
