Cargando…

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study explored the impact of COVID-19 self-isolation and social restriction measures on university students, through the perspectives of both students and the staff supporting them. The study comprised 11 focus groups (students) and 26 individual interviews (staff) at a higher educa...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Knight, Holly, Carlisle, Sophie, O’Connor, Mórna, Briggs, Lydia, Fothergill, Lauren, Al-Oraibi, Amani, Yildirim, Mehmet, Morling, Joanne R., Corner, Jessica, Ball, Jonathan, Denning, Chris, Vedhara, Kavita, Blake, Holly
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34682418
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010675
_version_ 1784587848615198720
author Knight, Holly
Carlisle, Sophie
O’Connor, Mórna
Briggs, Lydia
Fothergill, Lauren
Al-Oraibi, Amani
Yildirim, Mehmet
Morling, Joanne R.
Corner, Jessica
Ball, Jonathan
Denning, Chris
Vedhara, Kavita
Blake, Holly
author_facet Knight, Holly
Carlisle, Sophie
O’Connor, Mórna
Briggs, Lydia
Fothergill, Lauren
Al-Oraibi, Amani
Yildirim, Mehmet
Morling, Joanne R.
Corner, Jessica
Ball, Jonathan
Denning, Chris
Vedhara, Kavita
Blake, Holly
author_sort Knight, Holly
collection PubMed
description This qualitative study explored the impact of COVID-19 self-isolation and social restriction measures on university students, through the perspectives of both students and the staff supporting them. The study comprised 11 focus groups (students) and 26 individual interviews (staff) at a higher education institution in England during a period of national lockdown (January–March 2021). Participants were university students (n = 52) with self-isolation experiences and university staff (n = 26) with student-facing support roles. Focus group and interview data were combined and analysed using an inductive thematic approach. Four themes emerged: ‘Adaptation during the pandemic’, ‘Practical, environmental, and emotional challenges of self-isolating’, ‘Social factors and their impact on COVID-19 testing and self-isolation adherence’, and ‘Supporting self-isolation’. Students and staff struggled with the imposed restrictions and shift to online education. Students found it difficult to adapt to new expectations for university life and reported missing out on professional and social experiences. Students and staff noted concerns about the impact of online teaching on educational outcomes. Students endorsed varied emotional responses to self-isolation; some felt unaffected whilst others experienced lowered mood and loneliness. Students were motivated by pro-social attitudes; campaigns targeting these factors may encourage continued engagement in protective behaviours. Staff struggled to manage their increased workloads delivering support for self-isolating students. Universities must consider the support needs of students during self-isolation and prepare for the long-term impacts of the pandemic on student wellbeing and educational attainment. Greater support should be provided for staff during transitional periods, with ongoing monitoring of workforce stress levels warranted.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8535702
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-85357022021-10-23 Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study Knight, Holly Carlisle, Sophie O’Connor, Mórna Briggs, Lydia Fothergill, Lauren Al-Oraibi, Amani Yildirim, Mehmet Morling, Joanne R. Corner, Jessica Ball, Jonathan Denning, Chris Vedhara, Kavita Blake, Holly Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This qualitative study explored the impact of COVID-19 self-isolation and social restriction measures on university students, through the perspectives of both students and the staff supporting them. The study comprised 11 focus groups (students) and 26 individual interviews (staff) at a higher education institution in England during a period of national lockdown (January–March 2021). Participants were university students (n = 52) with self-isolation experiences and university staff (n = 26) with student-facing support roles. Focus group and interview data were combined and analysed using an inductive thematic approach. Four themes emerged: ‘Adaptation during the pandemic’, ‘Practical, environmental, and emotional challenges of self-isolating’, ‘Social factors and their impact on COVID-19 testing and self-isolation adherence’, and ‘Supporting self-isolation’. Students and staff struggled with the imposed restrictions and shift to online education. Students found it difficult to adapt to new expectations for university life and reported missing out on professional and social experiences. Students and staff noted concerns about the impact of online teaching on educational outcomes. Students endorsed varied emotional responses to self-isolation; some felt unaffected whilst others experienced lowered mood and loneliness. Students were motivated by pro-social attitudes; campaigns targeting these factors may encourage continued engagement in protective behaviours. Staff struggled to manage their increased workloads delivering support for self-isolating students. Universities must consider the support needs of students during self-isolation and prepare for the long-term impacts of the pandemic on student wellbeing and educational attainment. Greater support should be provided for staff during transitional periods, with ongoing monitoring of workforce stress levels warranted. MDPI 2021-10-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8535702/ /pubmed/34682418 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010675 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Knight, Holly
Carlisle, Sophie
O’Connor, Mórna
Briggs, Lydia
Fothergill, Lauren
Al-Oraibi, Amani
Yildirim, Mehmet
Morling, Joanne R.
Corner, Jessica
Ball, Jonathan
Denning, Chris
Vedhara, Kavita
Blake, Holly
Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title_full Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title_fullStr Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title_short Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Self-Isolation on Students and Staff in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study
title_sort impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and self-isolation on students and staff in higher education: a qualitative study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8535702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34682418
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010675
work_keys_str_mv AT knightholly impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT carlislesophie impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT oconnormorna impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT briggslydia impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT fothergilllauren impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT aloraibiamani impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT yildirimmehmet impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT morlingjoanner impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT cornerjessica impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT balljonathan impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT denningchris impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT vedharakavita impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy
AT blakeholly impactsofthecovid19pandemicandselfisolationonstudentsandstaffinhighereducationaqualitativestudy