The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study
Peer support is a widely adopted strategy in higher education, facilitating student engagement in socially safe groups to enhance knowledge and social skills. While its benefits are recognized during in-person education, evidence supporting these benefits in an online format of study, especially amo...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| author | Jinal Shashin Parmar Poshan Thapa Sowbhagya Micheal Tinashe Dune David Lim Stewart Alford Sabuj Kanti Mistry Amit Arora |
| author_facet | Jinal Shashin Parmar Poshan Thapa Sowbhagya Micheal Tinashe Dune David Lim Stewart Alford Sabuj Kanti Mistry Amit Arora |
| author_sort | Jinal Shashin Parmar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Peer support is a widely adopted strategy in higher education, facilitating student engagement in socially safe groups to enhance knowledge and social skills. While its benefits are recognized during in-person education, evidence supporting these benefits in an online format of study, especially among postgraduate health students, remains scarce. This study explored the impact of a peersupport program on the social and emotional well-being of postgraduate health students who were studying online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peer support groups were implemented for a mixed group of local and international students enrolled in a postgraduate health subject delivered online in 2021 at Western Sydney University, Australia. Data were collected using four focus group discussions conducted via Zoom, transcribed verbatim, translated (as required), and analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Three major themes were identified: (i) emotional well-being and social support; (ii) social interactions and forming friendships; and (iii) facilitators and barriers to engagement. This study highlights the positive impact of the peer support program in enhancing social and emotional well-being among post-graduate health students, with most being international students. Despite the challenges posed by online learning during COVID-19, students experienced significant social, emotional, and cultural benefits from participating in the peer support program. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-552cf95de2f749b08c3e6ac9ebc874ff |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-552cf95de2f749b08c3e6ac9ebc874ff2025-08-20T02:11:05ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-02-0115327310.3390/educsci15030273The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative StudyJinal Shashin Parmar0Poshan Thapa1Sowbhagya Micheal2Tinashe Dune3David Lim4Stewart Alford5Sabuj Kanti Mistry6Amit Arora7School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Population and Global Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G4, CanadaSchool of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaTranslational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaTranslational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaSchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, AustraliaSchool of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, AustraliaPeer support is a widely adopted strategy in higher education, facilitating student engagement in socially safe groups to enhance knowledge and social skills. While its benefits are recognized during in-person education, evidence supporting these benefits in an online format of study, especially among postgraduate health students, remains scarce. This study explored the impact of a peersupport program on the social and emotional well-being of postgraduate health students who were studying online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peer support groups were implemented for a mixed group of local and international students enrolled in a postgraduate health subject delivered online in 2021 at Western Sydney University, Australia. Data were collected using four focus group discussions conducted via Zoom, transcribed verbatim, translated (as required), and analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Three major themes were identified: (i) emotional well-being and social support; (ii) social interactions and forming friendships; and (iii) facilitators and barriers to engagement. This study highlights the positive impact of the peer support program in enhancing social and emotional well-being among post-graduate health students, with most being international students. Despite the challenges posed by online learning during COVID-19, students experienced significant social, emotional, and cultural benefits from participating in the peer support program.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/3/273peer supportstudent experiencesocial and emotional well-beinghigher educationonline studiesCOVID-19 pandemic |
| spellingShingle | Jinal Shashin Parmar Poshan Thapa Sowbhagya Micheal Tinashe Dune David Lim Stewart Alford Sabuj Kanti Mistry Amit Arora The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study Education Sciences peer support student experience social and emotional well-being higher education online studies COVID-19 pandemic |
| title | The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full | The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study |
| title_short | The Impact of a Peer Support Program on the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Postgraduate Health Students During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study |
| title_sort | impact of a peer support program on the social and emotional wellbeing of postgraduate health students during covid 19 a qualitative study |
| topic | peer support student experience social and emotional well-being higher education online studies COVID-19 pandemic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/3/273 |
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