Treatment - Mindfulness & Acceptance
Feasibility and Acceptability of Modified MBSR for Health Care Workers Experiencing Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Virginia K. A Mutch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Weill Cornell Medicine
Hoboken, New Jersey
Janna Gordon-Elliott, M.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York
Katarzyna Wyka, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York
Susan Evans, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York
Health care workers have been particularly vulnerable to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been found to be effective in reducing stress and improving mental and physical well-being. To increase dissemination, MBSR, in recent years, has been abbreviated and adapted for online platforms. The authors of the current study sought to investigate whether a brief, online version of MBSR would be feasible and acceptable for Health Care Workers (HCW) experiencing stress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
Faculty and staff participated in four weekly 1-hour online sessions that included mindfulness exercises drawn from traditional MBSR programs (i.e., body scan, sitting meditation, mindful eating, and yoga). Participants were provided with supporting slides, videos, demonstrations, and meditation recordings.
Results: 108 of hospital staff enrolled in the program and 42 participants completed pre- and post-measures. Participants reported the program was logical, successful, and worth recommending pre and post program (M= 22.02 and M=21.76, respectively, range 0-27). There was a slight decline in the belief in improvement in health and well-being due to the program (ES=.37, p=.021). Secondary hypotheses regarding participants’ self-reported stress and levels of mindfulness were supported, with improvements in perceived stress (ES=.45, p=.006), compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (ES=.41, ES=.31, ES=.35 respectively, p< .05). Participants reported significant improvements in the describing facet of mindfulness (ES=.49, p=.004), while all other facets (observing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, nonreactivity to inner experience) remained unchanged pre- to post program.
Discussion: Results from this study suggest that an abridged, online version of MBSR is feasible and acceptable to health care workers experiencing stress and provides benefits expected from traditional MBSR programs. Limitations include lack of a randomized control group limiting generalizability.
