INVITATION

Investigating the impact of volunteering on the development of resilience in student paramedics

Are you a student paramedic involved in volunteering? We are looking for student paramedics who have engaged in volunteering activities to participate in a research project exploring the impact of volunteering on the development of resilience.

Resilience has been identified as a protective factor that impacts on how effectively people are able to employ coping strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of exposure to traumatic events or to organisational stressors. Research is needed on how to develop resilience in paramedics and paramedic students and how to ensure their levels of resilience are maintained throughout their career. Enhancing resilience through acquiring a better understanding of what factors influence its’ development may foster a better sense of wellbeing amongst students and assist in their transition into the work environment.

This research will involve surveys and interviews with student paramedics to determine their thoughts on what helped to develop resilience and to establish whether volunteering offers an effective medium to assist with the development of resilience.

Inclusion criteria: All students who have fully completed the first year, full-time study equivalent of an Australian undergraduate paramedic degree course are invited to participate if they have engaged in volunteering activities within the last five years.

Full information on what is required is provided in the participant information sheet (click here to view) and you can contact myself or other members of the research team if you have any further questions.

Please follow the link provided to access the survey: https://www.research.net/r/Paramedic_Student_Resilience

Your support with this research project is very much appreciated.

Research team contact details:

Chief Investigator: Clare Sutton, PhD Candidate, School of Biomedical Science, Charles Sturt, Bathurst, csutton@csu.edu.au, 02 6338 4022

Supervisors: Dr. Patricia Logan, PhD, SFHEA, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt, Bathurst, plogan@csu.edu.au Professor Russell Roberts, PhD, Faculty of Business, Justice & Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt, Orange, rroberts@csu.edu.au