A Study of Mindfulness and Self-Care: A Path to Self-Compassion for Female Therapists in Training

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Khayat

2015

199

118

Objectives: To describe the relationship between trainable qualities (mindfulness and self-compassion), with factors conceptually related to burnout and quality of care (sleep and resilience) in young health professionals and trainees. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Large Midwestern academic health center. Participants: 213 clinicians and trainees. Outcome measures: Sleep and resilience were assessed by using the 8-item PROMIS Sleep scale and the 6-item Brief Resilience Scale. Mindfulness and self-compassion were assessed using the 10-item Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale, Revised and the 12-item Self-Compassion Scale. Health was assessed with PatientReported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health measures, and stress was assessed with the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale. After examination of descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations, multiple regression analyses were done to determine whether mindfulness and self-compassion were associated with better sleep and resilience. Results: Respondents had an average age of 28 years; 73% were female. Professions included dieticians (11%), nurses (14%), physicians (38%), social workers (24%), and other (12%). Univariate analyses showed normative values for all variables. Sleep disturbances were significantly and most strongly correlated with perceived stress and poorer health, but also with less mindfulness and self-compassion. Resilience was strongly and significantly correlated with less stress and better mental health, more mindfulness, and more self-compassion. Conclusions: In these young health professionals and trainees, sleep and resilience are correlated with both mindfulness and self-compassion. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether training to increase mindfulness and self-compassion can improve clinicians' sleep and resilience or whether decreasing sleep disturbances and building resilience improves mindfulness and compassion.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Associated with Sleep and Resilience in Health Professionals?

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Khayat

2015

199

118

“…[11][12][13][14][15] In recent years, mind-body skills training (MBST) such as mindfulness-based stress reduction has become a popular strategy to improve health professionals' mindfulness, decrease burnout, and improve patient care. [16][17][18][19][20][21] Mindfulness has been defined as paying attention in a particular way-on purpose, to the present moment, nonjudgmentally. 19,22 In a previous study, we found that mindfulness was correlated with resilience, 23 and other studies have confirmed that over time mindfulness training enhances health professionals' resilience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute Effects of Online Mind–Body Skills Training on Resilience, Mindfulness, and Empathy

J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med

Khirallah

2015

104

120

Background. Some studies have begun to show benefits of brief in-person mind-body skills training. We evaluated the effects of 1-hour online elective mind-body skills training for health professionals on mindfulness, resilience, and empathy. Methods. Between May and November, 2014, we described enrollees for the most popular 1-hour modules in a new online mind-body skills training program; compared enrollees' baseline stress and burnout to normative samples; and assessed acute changes in mindfulness, resilience, and empathy.

“…16 Nurses and psychologists, too, have benefited from mindfulness and self-compassion training in small studies evaluating the effect on burnout. 17,18 Before offering in-person or online training to our trainees, we wanted to test a conceptual model relating potentially trainable qualities to stress, resilience, and confidence in the ability to provide calm, comforting care. Were mindfulness and selfcompassion associated with well-being and confidence in providing calm, compassionate care in a convenience sample of health professionals who had elected to enroll in a seminar on meditation?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Associated With Well-being and Confidence in Providing Compassionate Care

Olson

J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med

2014

We explored the relationships between potentially modifiable factors (mindfulness and self-compassion), intermediate factors (resilience and stress), and outcomes of interest in a cross-sectional study of medical trainees (compassionate care and clinician well-being). Among the 12 participants, the average age was 27.6 years. Mindfulness and self-compassion were positively associated with confidence in providing calm, compassionate care (r ¼ 0.91 and 0.81, respectively; P < .01); they were also positively correlated with clinician resilience (P < .01), which was correlated with clinician mental health (r ¼ 0.83; P < .01). Perceived stress was strongly and significantly negatively correlated with all measures (rs ranging from -0.62 for flourishing to -0.92 for confidence in delivering calm, compassionate care; P < .05 for all correlations). Given the positive correlations between mindfulness and self-compassion with both clinician well-being and confidence in providing calm, compassionate care, interventional studies are warranted to determine what kind of training most efficiently and effectively improves trainee mindfulness and self-compassion. Effective patient-centered health care relies on the ability to be calm and compassionate, effectively comforting distressed patients in the face of sometimes stressful circumstances. Stress is ubiquitous in health care, particularly in times of rapid change in which physicians experience a diminished sense of control. Stress can increase psychological distress, 1-3 adversely affect attention 4 and concentration, 5 and impair decision making.6,7Stress also may lead to increased burnout, 8 which is associated with poor quality of care. 9,10 To improve the quality of care and clinician well-being, a growing number of programs aim to improve clinician mindfulness and/or compassion for self and others.11-15 An early study by Shapiro and colleagues 13 found that an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program was associated with decreases in anxiety and distress and increases in empathy among premedical and medical students. Another effective mindfulness-based communication program involved an intensive 8-week phase of 2.5-hour weekly in-person group meetings followed by a 10-month maintenance phase of 2.5 hours per month.12 A briefer intervention at the University of Wisconsin was evaluated with 30 primary care clinicians using a pre/post training design; in this pilot study, 18 hours of mindfulness training were followed by significant decreases in burnout, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress, without changes in resilience or compassion. 16 Nurses and psychologists, too, have benefited from mindfulness and self-compassion training in small studies evaluating the effect on burnout. 17,18Before offering in-person or online training to our trainees, we wanted to test a conceptual model relating potentially trainable qualities to stress, resilience, and confidence in the ability to provide calm, comforting care. Were mindfulness and selfcompassion associated ...