Wellness, Psychological
Conditions
Brief summary
Burnout shares symptoms with anxiety and depression. While there is no single intervention for burnout, there are validated interventions (which are amenable to virtual reality (VR)) for anxiety and depression. UMassMemorial data from the Professional Well-Being Academic Consortium show that MD burnout and distress has increased since 2020. The investigators believe providing clinicians with a unique tool (VR) will be a feasible and efficacious way to tackle distress. It is known that only 1% of our MDs have done mindfulness training but nearly 50% are interested in doing so. Therefore, a self-administrable, interactive mindfulness program delivered over VR has great potential to reach clinicians who want to practice a more active form of mindfulness at a time convenient to them. The results of the study will provide preliminary evidence to determine if a take-home VR mindfulness program decreases clinician stress.
Detailed description
Cohorts 1 will be the intervention group Cohorts 2 will be the controls. Study endpoints include results from the following questionnaires: 1. PROMIS - Short Form Anxiety (8 questions) 2. PROMIS - Short Form Depression (8 questions) 3. Perceived Stress Scale (10 questions) 4. Connor-Davidson Brief Resilience Scale (10 questions) 5. System Usability Scale (10 questions) The intervention is a 12-week mindfulness-based VR intervention. Cohort 1 will complete the questionnaires 1-4 at baseline (just before the intervention). They will be sent twice weekly reminders to use the VR for the duration of the 12-week intervention. After 12 weeks Cohort 1 will retake questionnaires 1-4 and take questionnaire 5, while Cohort 2 will then take questionnaires 1-4 and be provided the VR headsets. After another 12 weeks, Cohort 1 will take questionnaires 1-4 and be done with the study, while Cohort 2 will take questionnaires 1-5. After 12 more weeks, Cohort 2 will take questionnaires 1-4 and be done with the study.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVR mindfulness
VR-based mindfulness
Sponsors
University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* physician or APP employed by the Medical Group
Exclusion criteria
* Not willing to receive 2 texts per week
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PROMIS - anxiety | at baseline, after 12 weeks, then after another 12 weeks. We will compare results of the intervention group at 12 and 24 weeks to their baseline. | PROMIS Short Form - anxiety scale. Scores of 8-40; Higher is a worse outcome. |
| PROMIS - Depression | at baseline, after 12 weeks, then after another 12 weeks. We will compare results of the intervention group at 12 and 24 weeks to their baseline. | PROMIS Short Form - Depression scale. Scores of 8-40; Higher is a worse outcome. |
| Resiliency | at baseline, after 12 weeks, then after another 12 weeks. We will compare results of the intervention group at 12 and 24 weeks to their baseline. | Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale. Scores of 0-40; Higher score is better. |
| Stress scale | at baseline, after 12 weeks, then after another 12 weeks. We will compare results of the intervention group at 12 and 24 weeks to their baseline. | Perceived Stress Score. Scores of 0-40; Higher score is worse. |
| Usability | after 12 weeks we will dertermine the usability of the VR intervention in the intervention group | Usability scale. Scores of 10-50; Higher score is better. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTSteven Bird, MD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSteven Bird, MD
University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Outcome results
None listed