Impact of compassion training on Ambulance Victoria paramedics on levels of compassion and burnout.

Paramedics will undertake the Monash University 'Compassion Training for Healthcare Workers' course. They will be randomly assigned to 2 courses which will run consecutively. The course is an online 4-week, self-paced course with 4 hours of core content and up to 12 hours of engagement, completed over 8 weeks. Each week of the course contains written material, videos, practical exercises, research articles, weekly feedback video, optional online discussion forums and a live Q & A event with the course facilitators. Core topics are: Week 1 Introducing compassion: Includes content on science of compassion; how to transform empathy into compassion to avoid empathic distress; exercise on receiving and giving compassion; compassion practice record. Week 2 Barriers to compassion: Includes content on why compassion can be easily disrupted; reasons for not getting to compassion; mindfulness in healthcare; exercise on letting go after the interaction; caring for self and caring for others. Week 3 Common humanity: Includes content on the importance of common humanity; five moments of compassion; forgiveness, gratitude and wellbeing; perspectives that help us relate to others more positively; social connectedness; creating compassionate workplaces. Week 4 Sustaining compassion: Includes content on compassion in daily life; tips to help sustain compassion; values, ethics and intention; course summary; live Q & A zoom. The purpose of the optional discussion forums is to allow participants the opportunity to share their reflections on learnings on core topics with others and also to ask questions of the course facilitators if they wish to. Discussion forums are placed against key topics. An example of an optional discussion forum is "Now you have an understanding of the difference between compassion and empathic distress, notice throughout the week how often you are going into compassion or empathic distress when confronted with another's suffering. Share reflections on this exercise. Optional material is against core topics and provides additional information e.g. links to research articles, to podcasts or relevant websites. Participants will anonymously complete a selection of surveys measuring levels of burnout, compassion, depression and resilience on 3 separate occasions, both before and after they take the course. Participants can also opt in to a 1 on 1 interview conducted 2-4 weeks after completing the course to discuss their thoughts on the compassion training course.