Impact of a Virtual Reality-based Mindfulness Program on Clinician Wellness
University of Massachusetts, Worcester
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.
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 duratio…
Eligibility
- Age range
- Not specified
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * physician or APP employed by the Medical Group Exclusion Criteria: * Not willing to receive 2 texts per week
Interventions
- BehavioralVR mindfulness
VR-based mindfulness
Location
- UMassMemorial Health CareWorcester, Massachusetts