None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The project will examine workplace stress experienced by aged care workers. The experience of stress may cause physiological changes in immune and hormonal systems, and these changes can affect our mental and physical health. The project aims to extend the knowledge of the relationship between workplace stress, turnover intentions, and physiological markers of stress: salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA). Using a waitlist control design, participants will engage with a mindfulness smartphone intervention for three weeks. It will establish the relationships between mindfulness, stress and pre-clinical markers of diease. Participants will provide saliva samples and complete questionnaires at three time-points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-months post-intervention. This information is important as it will improve our understanding of the effects of workplace stress on the immune and hormonal systems and self-reported intentions to leave a vocation..
Interventions
Participants will be asked to engage in a 3-week mindfulness program delivered via a smartphone application (app), Smiling Mind (smilingmind.com.au). Smiling Mind is a free app available to download on iOS and Android devices and is accessible online. The app includes a variety of programs comprising of mindfulness meditations and activities ranging in duration from 1-45 minutes. For this study, participants will engage in the Healthcare Workers Program. The Healthcare Workers app was designed
Participants will be asked to engage in a 3-week mindfulness program delivered via a smartphone application (app), Smiling Mind (smilingmind.com.au). Smiling Mind is a free app available to download on iOS and Android devices and is accessible online. The app includes a variety of programs comprising of mindfulness meditations and activities ranging in duration from 1-45 minutes. For this study, participants will engage in the Healthcare Workers Program. The Healthcare Workers app was designed with easy to access information, resources and activities, developed to support users to “manage stress, improve focus and performance, and cultivate connection and resilience” (smilingmind.com.au). The Healthcare Workers Program contains 8 modules: Introduction – What is Mindfulness, Mindfulness Foundations, Managing Stress, Sleep, Thinking Clearly, Connection, Resilience, and Extending your Mindfulness Practice. The modules comprise of a total 51 sessions, 5 educational (e.g., What is mindfulness, Stress management), 8 activity (e.g., Exploring the breath, Journaling exercise), and 38 guided meditation (e.g. Body scan, Brain break) sessions. The majority of the in-app sessions are audio delivered, with some video and text delivered sessions. Participants will be asked to engage in guided mindfulness meditation for approximately 15 minutes three times a week for 3 weeks. Participants will be asked to complete and record a brief daily log of activities.’recording only the number of minutes spent using the app. To monitor adherence to the intervention, usage data (mins.) will be obtained from Smiling Mind (with participant permission).
Sponsors
La Trobe University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants will need to be over 18 years in age, employed in aged care, working primarily in a direct-care role. Participants will be required to be working a minimum of 20 hours per week and have been employed for at least three months.
Exclusion criteria
Individuals using hormone replacement therapy will be asked to self-exclude from the study as these medications can confound the physiological measures.
Outcome results
None listed