The effectiveness of spiritual interventions in the workplace for work‐related health outcomes: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Aim To investigate the effectiveness of spiritual interventions in the workplace for different health outcomes through the use of a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Background Most studies including spirituality in the workplace investigated it at the organisational/business level, while giving a secondary value to the well‐being and quality of life of the workers. Methods Systematic review and meta‐analysis carried out on the following databases: SCOPUS, PubMed and Web of Science. Spiritual interventions investigating work‐related health outcomes were included. Then, meta‐analyses were conducted. Results From a total of 2,832 studies, 7 articles were included in the systematic review and 6 in the meta‐analysis. Spiritual interventions, as compared to controls, improved the health outcomes of the workers (standard mean difference (SMD), −1.42; 95% CI, −1.98, −0.86; p < .001; I2 = 96%). Subanalyses revealed that yoga was an effective intervention and that stress was reduced by these interventions. Conclusion Spiritual interventions in the workplace seem to be effective in improving workers’ health. Nevertheless, the high heterogeneity and limited number of studies may hinder more robust conclusions at the moment. Implications for nursing management The use of spiritual interventions should be considered in workplaces in order to reduce the stress and other negative outcomes.

Healthy lifestyle interventions across diverse workplaces: a summary of the current evidence

“…Several recent reviews came to similar conclusions. A review of nature-based interventions showed they can promote mental health and well-being in the workplace [38], whereas a meta-analysis of spiritual interventions showed they can improve health outcomes of workers [39].…”

Influence of spirituality on moral distress and resilience in critical care staff: A scoping review

“… Jarden et al (2020) concluded in their review that spirituality, mindfulness, emotional well-being, and team engagement are the most used interventions to improve the well-being of critical care staff. A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials also confirmed that spiritual workplace interventions improve workers’ health and correlate with lower levels of inefficiency, exhaustion, and depersonalisation ( De Diego-Cordero et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In this context, it is important that institutions create an atmosphere in which spiritual needs are respected, so that the critical care staff are able to draw on their spiritual resources ( Callis et al, 2021 , Davis and Batcheller, 2020 , Rushton et al, 2021 , Smiechowski et al, 2021 , Tracey et al, 2021 ). Institutions share the responsibility to support critical care staff in using spirituality effectively to reduce their moral distress and thus also to maintain the quality of treatment ( Callis et al, 2021 , Davis and Batcheller, 2020 , De Diego-Cordero et al, 2021 , Jarden et al, 2020 , Rushton et al, 2021 , Smiechowski et al, 2021 , Tracey et al, 2021 , Pollock et al, 2020 , Wang et al, 2021 ). Thereby, spirituality should not be misused by institutions to increase critical care staff’s effectiveness.…”

Global prevalence of nursing burnout syndrome and temporal trends for the last 10 years: A meta‐analysis of 94 studies covering over 30 countries

“…Meanwhile, Suleiman‐Martos et al (2020) found that high burnout syndrome prevalence among nurses can lead to an increase in the number of medication errors, increased incidence of infection, an increased number of patients falling and a reduction in nursing care quality. Spiritual interventions should be considered in nurses' workplace to reduce these adverse outcomes (de Diego‐Cordero et al, 2021). The results of studies in different countries varied greatly, which may be due to the additional workloads of nurses in other national medical systems, such as the difference in the nurse–patient ratio (Rezaei et al, 2018).…”