https://doi.org/10.18061/bhac.v5i2.8335 Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal Vol. 5, No. 2, 2021
© 2021 Melnyk, Amaya, Hsieh, Momany, Winn, & Forbes. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Staying Calm and Well in the Midst of the COVID-19 Storm: One University’s Longitudinal Outcomes
Evaluation of a Mental Health and Well-Being Webinar Series
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN
The Ohio State University
Megan Amaya, PhD, CHES
The Ohio State University
Andreanna Pavan Hsieh, MPH
The Ohio State University
Rebecca Momany, MA
The Ohio State University
Josh Winn, MS
The Ohio State University
Logan J. Forbes
The Ohio State University
ABSTRACT
Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic began, wellness leadership at a large Mid-west public
university anticipated an increase in mental health problems among faculty and staff. A two-part
weekly webinar series entitled “Staying Calm and Well in the Midst of the COVID-19 Storm” was
launched to assist faculty and staff in coping with stressful issues related to the pandemic and
enhancing their well-being. This series provided the university community with evidence-based
knowledge, skills, and resources to enhance their ability in taking good self-care.
Aim: To assess participant mental health outcomes during the two-part mental health and well-being
educational webinar series over time.
Methods: A longitudinal outcomes evaluation was conducted. Evaluation data was obtained from the
participants via an anonymous post-webinar survey, which included questions from the Patient-Health
Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) to assess symptoms of anxiety and depression. The first series was
conducted over the course of 8 weeks and the second series took place over 7 weeks. Descriptive
statistics were used to assess responses to the PHQ-4 over time to evaluate outcomes of the webinar
series. An open-ended question also asked participants about the 2 to 3 biggest concerns and worries
they had at that moment.
Results: The average amount of survey responses received were 1,470.25 (SD = ± 240.3) for Series
One and 926.4 (SD = ± 164.3) for Series Two. Ninety-five percent of participants put the skills they