Abbreviated Mindfulness Intervention for Job Satisfaction, Quality of Life, and Compassion in Primary Care Clinicians: A Pilot Study

Abstract Purpose Burnout, attrition, and low work satisfaction of primary care physicians are growing concerns and can have a negative influence on health care. Interventions for clinicians that improve work-life balance are few and poorly understood. We undertook this study as a first step in inves...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of family medicine 2013-09, Vol.11 (5), p.412-420
Main Authors: Fortney, Luke, MD, Luchterhand, Charlene, MSSW, Zakletskaia, Larissa, MA, Zgierska, Aleksandra, MD, PhD, Rakel, David, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety - prevention & control
Burnout, Professional - prevention & control
Empathy
Female
Health Personnel - psychology
Humans
Internal Medicine
Job Satisfaction
Male
Meditation - psychology
Middle Aged
Mindfulness - education
Nurse Practitioners - psychology
Original Research
Physician Assistants - psychology
Physicians - psychology
Pilot Projects
Primary Health Care
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Quality of Life
Resilience, Psychological
Time Factors
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Summary:Abstract Purpose Burnout, attrition, and low work satisfaction of primary care physicians are growing concerns and can have a negative influence on health care. Interventions for clinicians that improve work-life balance are few and poorly understood. We undertook this study as a first step in investigating whether an abbreviated mindfulness intervention could increase job satisfaction, quality of life, and compassion among primary care clinicians. Methods A total of 30 primary care clinicians participated in an abbreviated mindfulness course. We used a single-sample, pre-post design. At 4 points in time (baseline, and 1 day, 8 weeks, and 9 months postintervention), participants completed a set of online measures assessing burnout, anxiety, stress, resilience, and compassion. We used a linear mixed-effects model analysis to assess changes in outcome measures. Results Participants had improvements compared with baseline at all 3 follow-up time points. At 9 months postintervention, they had significantly better scores (1) on all Maslach Burnout Inventory burnout subscales—Emotional Exhaustion ( P = .009), Depersonalization ( P = .005), and Personal Accomplishment ( P
ISSN:1544-1709
1544-1717
DOI:10.1370/afm.1511