Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (Jun 2023)
The Impact of Psychological Interventions with Elements of Mindfulness on Burnout and Well-Being in Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review
Abstract
Polona Selič-Zupančič,1– 3 Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš,1,3,4 Sara Onuk Tement4 1Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia; 3Primary Healthcare Research and Development Institute, Community Health Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 4Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaCorrespondence: Sara Onuk Tement, Zavita ulica 38, Maribor, 2000, Slovenia, Tel +386 31 603 645, Email [email protected]: Healthcare professionals are highly likely to experience various causes of work-related stress, which often leads to burnout. This became even more obvious during the Covid-19 pandemic. This systematic review aimed to analyze articles where psychological interventions with elements of mindfulness (PIM) were used to support healthcare professionals to foster well-being and reduce burnout levels. Compared to other recently published reviews, it is unique, due to its focus on a wide group of healthcare professionals, a broader selection of psychological interventions, and the evaluation of any sustained effects.Methods: Systematic searches were carried out in February 2021 with different combinations of Boolean operators within six electronic databases: PubMed, EBSCOhost, MEDLINE, PsycArticles, Cochrane Library, JSTOR and Cobiss. We included articles that had been published in the last ten years (2011 to 2021) and which reported on original research focused on evaluating the influence of PIM on healthcare professionals. MERSQI was used to assess the quality of the included studies.Results: Of 1315 identified studies, 15 were included in this systematic review. Regardless of the specific type, duration and setting (individual vs group) of PIM applied, the results demonstrated a positive impact on well-being and burnout in participating healthcare professionals. The most studied interventions involved MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and other mindfulness training programmes, in online as well as in-person versions.Conclusion: Given the new reality with the presence of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, it is of the utmost importance to offer feasible, effective interventions for burnout reduction to vulnerable groups of healthcare professionals. By focusing on their needs, several key aspects of burnout and mindfulness could be efficiently improved; this review demonstrates that short, online interventions could be as effective as longer, in-person ones.Keywords: mindfulness, burnout, perceived stress, well-being, Covid-19, MBSR
