Burnout, Distress, Emotional
Conditions
Brief summary
There is a widespread epidemic of distress and burnout (i.e., extreme distress) among Canadian physicians. Burnout is costly to physicians, patients, and healthcare organizations as it compromises physicians' own health and reduces their capacity to deliver high quality, safe care to patients. Life coaching delivered by certified coaches is a personal development tool. Life coaching has been proven to help individuals maximize their strengths and skills to handle stressors, regain control over their lives, act according to their core values, and achieve their full potential, consequently reducing their vulnerability to burnout. The investigators will evaluate life coaching for physicians' well-being in the current Canadian context. Physicians from centres in Canada will be randomly assigned to life coaching (intervention) or no coaching (control) group. The coaching group will receive a 1-hour initial coaching session followed by five 30-minute coaching sessions occurring at a frequency of every 2 to 3 weeks within 5 months (total of 3.5 coaching hours). All coaching sessions will be delivered virtually by certified life coaches. The investigators will assess the impact of coaching on physician distress and quality of life before and after the intervention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALLife Coaching
Sessions with a professional life coach.
Sponsors
Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society
University of Ottawa
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Registered staff physician, resident, or fellow * Currently practicing in Canada * (For the 'Francophone minority patients' group only) Sometimes conducts thorough consultations completely in French for French-speaking patients outside Quebec
Exclusion criteria
* Previously received life coaching in the last 5 years * Currently receiving psychotherapy
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Quality of Life score at 5 months | 5 months | Assessed using the reduced version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), one of the most widely used questionnaires for assessing adult QOL, including among healthcare professionals. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Resilience score at 5 months | 5 months | Measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Sale. Minimum score 0, maximum score 100. A higher score is better, i.e., more resilience. |
| Change in Job Satisfaction score at 5 months | 5 months | Measured using the Global Job Satisfaction subscale of the Physician Job Satisfaction Scale. Minimum score 12, maximum score 60. A higher score is better, i.e., more satisfied. |
| Change in Burnout score at 5 months | 5 months | Measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Minimum score 0, maximum score 132. A higher score is worse, i.e., more burnout. |
| Change in Job Empowerment and Meaning score at 5 months | Baseline and 5 months | Measured using the Empowerment at Work Scale. Minimum score is 12, maximum score is 84. A higher score is better, i.e., higher empowerment. |
| Absence from work due to mental or physical illness | Baseline | Measured as the number of days reported by participants. |
| Change in Job Engagement score at 5 months | 5 months | Measured using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Minimum score 0, maximum score 102. A higher score is better, i.e., better engagement. |
Countries
Canada
Contacts
Primary ContactSylvain Boet, MD, PhD
Backup ContactYeonJung Yoo, MPH
Outcome results
None listed