Authors (including presenting author) :
Lui WS Wacy(1), Chan Y
Affiliation :
(1) Oasis- Center for Personal Growth and Crisis Intervention, Hospital Authority Head Office
Keyword 2: :
Brief mindfulness-based group
Keyword 3: :
Hospital Staff
Introduction :
Effectiveness of mindfulness and 8-session mindfulness-based interventions, including Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Mindful Practice programs, to alleviate healthcare workers’ stress and improve their well-being were widely substantiated by research. There were also evidence showing that 4 or 5 weekly sessions could reduce hospital staff’s distress. As it was still difficult for staff to join these 1 to 2-month long programs given their busy schedule, a pioneer 2-session mindfulness-based group in Chinese was designed in 2015 to facilitate staff’s engagement and participation.
Objectives :
(1) Increase hospital staff’s level of mindfulness; (2) Reduce their burnout, depression, anxiety and stress; (3) Improve their well-being after joining this intervention.
Methodology :
A pre- vs post-intervention design was employed. Participants included doctors, nurses, allied health, managerial and supporting staff of all clusters. Outcome measures encompassed (1) Mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire); (2) Burnout (Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory), depression, anxiety, stress (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale) and well-being (WHO-5 Well-being Index); (3) Satisfaction survey.
Result & Outcome :
From 2015 to 2025, 57 groups were organized and 507 staff joined the intervention. 72.8% were females. Mean age was 40.5. Paired sample t-test analysis showed that healthcare staff’s level of mindfulness and well-being significantly increased after joining this program. Compared to baseline, their total mindfulness scores showed a 6.78 increase (p =.000); well-being scores a 5.79 increase (p =.000), mindfulness-observing scores a 0.87 increase (p =.000), mindfulness-non-reactivity scores a 0.44 increase (p =.000) and mindfulness-non-judgement scores a 0.27 increase (p < .05) at post-intervention. Also, there were statistically significant reduction in stress, depression, anxiety and burnout-emotional exhaustion. At post-intervention, hospital staff demonstrated a 1.73 reduction on stress subscale scores (p = .000), 1.41 reduction on depressive subscale scores (p =.000), 1.33 reduction on anxiety subscale scores (p =.000) and 0.32 on burnout-emotional exhaustion scores (p < .05). 86% of participants were satisfied with this group. To conclude, this 2-session mindfulness-based intervention was one of the shortest programs in current literature, which was found to be effective in promoting hospital staff’s mindfulness and wellness. Attempts to further improve the robustness of study design and promote easy access of this intervention (e.g. making it available online) were warranted.
