A qualitative exploration of a mindful resiliency program for community healthcare providers

Abstract

Despite the important contribution of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to the community healthcare sector, the building and maintenance of occupational resilience in community health workers has received little attention. However, it is recognized that employees in this sector are exposed to significant stressors from the high demand work environment which negatively impacts on their well‐being. Therefore, this research examined the acceptability, feasibility, and sustainability of a mindful resiliency program by employing a qualitative analysis of participant subjective experience of the program in this cohort. This was the first study to be conducted with senior managers and frontline healthcare providers in the nongovernmental organizations community sector. A 1‐month post‐delivery qualitative review of the program identified four major themes: applicability, changes to participant's skills, social support, and coping with COVID‐19. A major finding was the ability of the participants to immediately recognize their stress levels and then manage them. Additionally, lessons from the program were shown to be usefully applied with colleagues and clients within the work environment, and with family members.

Psychological and work‐related factors associated with emotional exhaustion among healthcare professionals during the COVID‐19 outbreak in Italian hospitals

“…In conclusion, our study underlines the negative effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the psychological well‐being of frontline healthcare workers, which can lead to emotional exhaustion and increased risk of burnout. Moreover, this study suggests that intervention policies should include strategies to promote resilience (see, for example, Klockner et al, 2021; Heath et al, 2020) and the development of stress management practices to identify working conditions that cause the most job dissatisfaction (Neto et al, 2020). These findings are relevant in order to protect the health of professionals who are caring for patients in different waves of COVID‐19 or similar emergency situations.…”

“…In addition, employees with low levels of job satisfaction are most likely to experience emotional burnout, to have reduced levels of self‐esteem, and to have raised levels of both anxiety and depression. Therefore, a supportive work environment is vital to promoting resilience and the job satisfaction of clinicians during an emergency such as COVID‐19 (Faragher et al, 2005; Klockner et al, 2021).…”

Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Well-Being, Burnout and Stress of Italian Healthcare Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Recently, after the onset of COVID-19, mind–body practices have been proposed and evaluated to improve the psycho-emotional status of HCPs, including perceived stress, demonstrating their acceptance by HCPs, feasibility and effectiveness [ 13 , 14 ]. Since professionals with low levels of job satisfaction are more likely to experience distress (e.g., anxiety and depression), a supportive work environment is crucial to promote resilience and job satisfaction, providing the highest standard of care in the safest possible environment, especially during an emergency such as COVID-19 [ 15 , 16 ]. Indeed, MBSR can help HCPs to improve interpersonal relationships with patients and colleagues, to take better care of themselves and others, to pay more attention to the present moment, developing concentration and consequently improving work performance, being more available to listen and more motivated.…”

Pilot Study on the Impact of Gratitude Journaling or Cognitive Strategies on Health Care Workers

“…A qualitative study of 20 community service workers in Australia found that participation in a mindfulness-based intervention program increased their perceived ability to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic ( Klockner et al, 2021 ). Similarly, in a sample of 38 HCWs, completing an online resilience training program resulted in decreased emotional distress at months one and two and increased resilience 2 months postintervention ( DeTore et al, 2022 ).…”