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Developing a Resiliency Intervention to Support Healthcare Workers Engaged in the Provision of HIV Care

Developing a Resiliency Intervention to Support Healthcare Workers Engaged in the Provision of HIV Care

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06548035
Acronym
Qinisa
Enrollment
60
Registered
2024-08-12
Start date
2024-10-01
Completion date
2025-08-29
Last updated
2026-02-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Professional, Stress

Keywords

Nurses, HIV, Resiliency

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to pilot an adapted resiliency-based mind-body intervention (the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program; the 3RP) for nurses that care for people with HIV (PWH) in the public sector in South Africa (SA). In Phase 1 \[NIH Grant Number: R34MH131426; Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) Ethics Reference Number: 220813\], the investigators conducted focus group discussions to solicit feedback on: the role of culture and perceptions of stress; the lived experiences of stress; sources of stress (e.g. occupational, trauma related); how stress impacts job functioning (specifically patient care); current coping strategies; and the intervention modules (content, number of sessions, session duration, program length, mode of delivery (e.g., virtual, in-person, hybrid approaches, use of coaches), etc.). In this phase 2, the investigators will conduct a small proof-of-concept study (N = 8-10), followed by a randomized pilot (N = 60) of nurses that care for PWH in the public sector in South Africa (SA) to test the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted intervention.

Detailed description

This study will pilot test an adapted version of an existing stress management and resiliency-enhancing intervention (the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program; the 3RP) for nurses that care for PWH in the public sector in SA, to test the feasibility and acceptability of all study procedures. This intervention was adapted and refined from its original format (which consisted of eight, 90-minute weekly group sessions) following focus group discussions (FGDs) that explored nurses' preferences and desired modifications to the intervention (Phase 1 of this study). This trial will involve a randomized pilot study (N = 60) to test the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted intervention among nurses that care for PWH in the public sector in SA. Additionally, the randomized control trial (RCT) will collect anonymous clinic client data on demographics, satisfaction with care, client-provider trust, and likelihood of returning to care. We will also collect clinic-level data to understand how to measure client-related outcomes and clinic metrics of HIV care engagement, such as expected patient return rates/measures of retention, percentage of patients with suppressed viral load, frequency of viral load collection, and percentage of patients initiating second line treatment to best understand how to measure these variables in a larger trial testing the efficacy of the intervention.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALAdapted Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP)

The 3RP intervention is an integrated program of relaxation response (RR) eliciting meditation and mindfulness exercises, social support, cognitive skills training, and positive psychology focused on developing skills to reduce the stress response, elicit the relaxation response and enhance resiliency.

Sponsors

Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
CollaboratorNIH
Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Ltd
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Providing at least some primary HIV care in a public sector clinic (at the level of professional nurse) for at least one year; * IsiZulu or English speaking; * Able and willing to sign informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

\- Participation in cognitive behavioral therapy and/or a mind-body intervention in the past year.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Feasibility of Study Procedures, as Assessed by Number of Individuals Enrolled and Number of Assessments and Sessions Completed by Enrolled Individuals.Through study completion, approximately 12 months after initiationTo assess feasibility, the investigators will track the number of participants screened, eligible, and enrolled; the number of treatment and assessment sessions completed; and reasons for declining enrollment and for prematurely leaving the trial.
Acceptability of Study Procedures, as Assessed by the Client Satisfaction QuestionnaireImmediately after the interventionAcceptability will be measured through the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8): 8-item measure of how much one values an intervention. Items scored from 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent); higher scores indicate greater satisfaction. Totals range from 8 to 32; with scores between 26 and 32 indicating 'excellent acceptability' and scores between 20 and 25 indicating 'good acceptability'. High internal consistency (alpha = 0.84-0.93) and used in HIV intervention research and resource-limited settings.
Acceptability of Study ProceduresImmediately after the interventionAcceptability will also be assessed via qualitative exit interviews.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
ResilienceBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionMeasure of Current Status (MOCS-A): 13-item measure of stress reactivity and coping; statements are rated from 0 (I cannot do this at all) to 4 (I can do this extremely well); total score ranges from 0-52; higher scores suggest better coping skills. Current Experiences Scale (CES): 25-item measure of resiliency domains; scores range from 0-125; higher scores reflect greater resilience.
Perceived StressBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionPerceived Stress Scale (PSS-10): 10-item measure of the extent to which past month life situations are appraised as stressful. Scores range from 0-40; higher scores indicate higher perceived stress.
BurnoutBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionMaslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS \[MP\]): 22-item measure of job burnout in medical professionals. The MBI-HSS comprised 22 questions across 3 subscales; Emotional Exhaustion (EE)-9 questions, Depersonalization (DP)-5 questions, and self-perceived lack of Personal Accomplishment (PA)-8 questions. High scores on the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions correspond to higher levels of burnout and high scores on the personal accomplishment dimension refer to lower levels of burnout.
AbsenteeismBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the intervention.Absenteeism will be measured by assessing unplanned days off from work in the prior 30 days.
Compassion FatigueBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionProfessional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) Version 5: 20-item burnout and secondary traumatic stress subscales from larger 30-item measure. Subscale scores range from 10-50; higher scores represent greater burnout and secondary traumatic stress.
StigmaBaselineMeasuring HIV Stigma and Discrimination Among Health Facility Staff: Standardized Brief Questionnaire (BL). Higher score represent greater stigma.
AnxietyBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionGeneralized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale: 7- item measure of the severity of anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks. Scores range from 0-21; cutoff scores of 5, 10, and 15 indicate mild, moderate, and severe anxiety.
DepressionBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionPatient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9): 9-item tool to evaluate the presence and frequency of depressive symptoms in the past two weeks. Scores range from 0-27; cutoffs of 5, 10, 15, and 20 indicate mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression.
Social SupportBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionCoping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory: Two 4-item subscales of the 53-item COPE Inventory (use of emotional support, use of instrumental support) to assess frequency of use of social support to cope with stress. Subscale scores range from 4-16, with higher scores indicating greater use of emotional or instrumental support.
OptimismBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionLife Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R): 10-item measure of generalized optimism vs. pessimism about the future. Total scores range from 0-24; higher scores indicate greater optimism.
Distress ToleranceBaseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention; 3 months after the interventionDistress Tolerance Scale (DTS): 15-item measure. Total scores range from 15-75; higher scores indicate greater distress tolerance. of emotional distress tolerance.
Adherence to 3RP intervention skillsWeeks 1-6 of interventionPractice notes have been developed to correspond with each module of the 3RP treatment. Participants will be asked to keep brief daily diaries of their out-of-session practice of core skills, which will be used to generate a rating of adherence to out-of-session practice guidelines. Note, completion will be encouraged but is not required.

Countries

South Africa

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 14, 2026