Hello from CROW Resilience Project!

A pilot research project titled, College-high school Resilience, Outreach, & Wellbeing (CROW) Connecting Bothell and Bellevue, has been funded by the University of Washington Resilience & Compassion Seed Grant. The seed grants are awarded by the Resilience Lab at UW Seattle to support the beginning stages of projects that cultivate resilience, compassion, and sustainability.

The CROW Connecting Bothell and Bellevue project was proposed by Ko Niitsu, Assistant Professor at UW Bothell School of Nursing & Health Studies, and Christina Lai, an undergraduate student majoring in Health Studies and minoring in Biology at UW Bothell. Lai has been working with Niitsu as an Research Assistant / Student Civic Fellow supported by the Washington Campus Compact.

Niitsu and his colleagues have previously developed an intervention to help UW Bothell students stay resilient during the pandemic through a pilot research project titled, Resilience through Virtual Mindfulness. “Christina was one of the participants of the mindfulness project” Niitsu said. “After the project was over, she approached to me and told me that not only college students but high school students are also struggling with mental health and wellbeing. This is how the idea of the CROW Connecting Bothell and Bellevue project was born”.

Niitsu and Lai are designing a project that college students at UW Bothell function as mentors for high school students in Bellevue. “I am a graduate of a high school in Bellevue, and I am now about to graduate from UW Bothell”, Lai said. “The last few years have been exceptionally challenging and taken a toll on us all. I would like to help youth build a strong foundation to thrive and prepare them for success”.

They are currently developing the IRB application, program content, and network. They are hoping to start recruiting participants in Autumn 2022 and implementing the project in Winter 2023 and/or later.