Wellness Counseling for Burnout

Overseen By Lisa Pierce, DNP, RN

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Colleen J Klein

Disqualifiers: Formalized counseling sessions

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 6

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to explore the effectiveness of wellness counseling in helping healthcare professionals manage burnout. Participants will collaborate with a licensed counselor to develop coping strategies for stress, self-care, and time management. The trial specifically targets healthcare professionals in non-profit settings who spend at least half of their time in direct patient care and are interested in attending Voluntary Consultative Wellness Sessions. As an unphased trial, it offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to enhance their well-being through personalized support.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that this wellness initiative is safe?

Research has shown that wellness counseling is generally safe for participants. In past studies, sessions with a licensed counselor helped people manage stress and improve self-care. Many participants reported feeling better without major side effects. One study found that wellness programs can reduce burnout and enhance overall well-being. However, another study found that workplace wellness programs did not always offer significant benefits compared to non-participants. This indicates that while the sessions are safe, their effectiveness can vary. Overall, wellness counseling is usually well-tolerated, with no serious negative effects reported. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Wellness Counseling for Burnout trial because it explores an educational intervention that focuses on voluntary consultative wellness sessions, offering a fresh approach to managing burnout. Unlike traditional methods that often involve medication or structured therapy sessions, this approach emphasizes personal choice and self-guided learning, potentially empowering individuals to take control of their own wellness journey. By prioritizing education and personal initiative, this method could provide a flexible, personalized way to address burnout, catering to individual needs and preferences.

What evidence suggests that this wellness initiative is effective for burnout?

Research has shown that wellness programs can help reduce burnout and stress. In one study, a wellness program noticeably lowered stress and emotional exhaustion, with benefits lasting for at least six months. Another study found that wellness activities improved aspects of burnout, such as emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction. Participants reported feeling happier and more resilient. This trial will evaluate the effectiveness of a Voluntary Consultative Wellness Session, which participants may choose to attend, in managing stress and improving overall well-being. ^{1 2 3 5 6}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Colleen Klein, PhD, RN

Principal Investigator

OSF Healthcare System

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for healthcare professionals employed in a non-profit setting, who spend at least half their time in direct patient care and are interested in wellness visits. It's not open to those already receiving formal counseling.

Inclusion Criteria

I am available and willing to attend all wellness visits.

Working at least 50% of time in direct patient care

Employment within a non-profit health care setting as a health care professional

Exclusion Criteria

Actively participating in formalized counseling sessions through other services at the time of recruitment into the study

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Educational Intervention

Participants engage in a wellness initiative with a licensed clinical professional counselor to develop coping strategies and improve self-care

6 months

Regular sessions with counselor

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in work engagement, well-being, resilience, and stress levels

18 months

Periodic assessments at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Voluntary Consultative Wellness Session

Trial Overview The study tests the effectiveness of voluntary consultative wellness sessions with a licensed counselor to help manage stress, improve self-care, time management, and address other personal or professional concerns.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Educational Intervention Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Educational intervention

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Colleen J Klein

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1

Recruited

300+

Published Research Related to This Trial

Coaching by trained professionals has been shown to effectively improve physician well-being and reduce distress and burnout, based on evidence from 14 studies involving 1099 participants.

While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicated a lower risk of bias and demonstrated positive outcomes, non-randomized studies also suggested benefits but had limitations, highlighting the need for standardized reporting in future research.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Impact of coaching on physician wellness: A systematic review. Boet, S., Etherington, C., Dion, PM., et al.[2023]

The Vanderbilt Medical Student (VMS) Wellness Program, established in 2005, effectively promotes student health and well-being through its three core components: The Advisory College Program, The Student Wellness Committee, and VMS LIVE, showing substantial growth and high student engagement.

Preliminary data indicates that nearly all students have participated in at least two components of the program, with positive feedback highlighting its effectiveness, making it a pioneering model for comprehensive wellness initiatives in medical education.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A comprehensive medical student wellness program--design and implementation at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Drolet, BC., Rodgers, S.[2022]

A targeted wellness program implemented for Otolaryngology residents over one year led to an increase in resident engagement and a decrease in burnout levels, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Residents responded positively to initiatives that promoted time away from work, faculty engagement outside the hospital, and access to physical activity, indicating that a culture of wellness can effectively address burnout in medical training.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Targeted Wellness Initiatives Are Most Effective for Reducing Otolaryngology Resident Burnout. Acevedo, JR., Schlacter, JA., Chambers, TN., et al.[2022]

A comprehensive wellness initiative implemented in October 2020 significantly reduced burnout among department members, with scores improving from a mean of 2.42 to 2.06 after the program (P = .012).

Participants reported a greater sense of community following the initiative, with scores increasing from a mean of 3.36 to 4.04 (P < .001), indicating that targeted interventions can enhance workplace satisfaction and fulfillment.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Promoting Organizational Change: A Urology Department-wide Wellness Program to Reduce Burnout. Margolin, EJ., Kosber, RL., Smigelski, MB., et al.[2023]

A survey of 77 internal medicine resident physicians revealed that they prefer informal support from peers and family over formal mental health services, indicating a need for interventions that align with these preferences.

The main barriers to seeking formal counseling were identified as time constraints and financial costs, suggesting that addressing these issues could improve the utilization of wellness supports among resident physicians.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Self-Reported Preferences for Help-Seeking and Barriers to Using Mental Health Supports Among Internal Medicine Residents: Exploratory Use of an Econometric Best-Worst Scaling Framework for Gathering Physician Wellness Preferences. Wu, A., Radhakrishnan, V., Targan, E., et al.[2022]

Over 1000 health care professionals were trained in the Brief Negotiation model over two years, leading to increased confidence in behavior change counseling, with 67% of physicians and 79% of other health professionals reporting improved confidence after training.

The implementation of the Brief Negotiation model system-wide in a health maintenance organization suggests that structured training and support can enhance clinician skills in motivating patient behavior change, although further research is needed to determine the optimal training duration for lasting impact.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Brief negotiation program for promoting behavior change: the Kaiser Permanente approach to continuing professional development. Runkle, C., Osterholm, A., Hoban, R., et al.[2004]

The case study involving 6544 participants demonstrated that Transtheoretical Model (TTM) computer-tailored interventions significantly improved health behaviors, exceeding average outcomes from randomized controlled trials by 16.4% to 44.8% in areas like smoking cessation and healthy eating.

The results from this case study also outperformed typical workplace wellness programs by 89.3% to 7 times, suggesting that tailored interventions can be highly effective in promoting wellness among employees.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Advancing bodies of evidence for population-based health promotion programs: randomized controlled trials and case studies. Johnson, JL., Prochaska, JO., Paiva, AL., et al.[2016]

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has mandated initiatives to improve resident wellness due to rising burnout rates among medical residents, highlighting the importance of addressing mental health in medical training.

The literature review emphasizes the need for both individual-level interventions, such as personal wellness strategies, and systemic organizational changes to effectively combat burnout and promote overall wellness in residency education.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Evidence-Based Interventions that Promote Resident Wellness from the Council of Emergency Residency Directors. Parsons, M., Bailitz, J., Chung, AS., et al.[2020]

Worksite wellness programs that included individual outreach and counseling were significantly more effective in engaging employees in smoking cessation and weight loss activities, with 46% of smokers and 54% of overweight individuals participating, compared to less than 10% and 1% at other sites.

The success of these programs was attributed to a variety of intervention options, such as guided self-help and one-to-one counseling, which catered to different employee needs and preferences, demonstrating the importance of personalized support in health initiatives.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Improving participation in worksite wellness programs: comparing health education classes, a menu approach, and follow-up counseling. Erfurt, JC., Foote, A., Heirich, MA., et al.[2011]

Over half of clinical providers in the US experience burnout, which negatively affects the quality of care and the clinical relationship, but the extent of burnout among patients is less understood.

The 2019 Stanford University MedicineX Burnout Workgroup developed an inclusive model called The Burnout Dyad, which incorporates both patient and provider experiences of burnout, aiming to improve patient-provider communication and overall care quality.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Burnout Dyad: A Collaborative Approach for Including Patients in a Model of Provider Burnout. Martinez-Hollingsworth, A., Hicks, M., Dobrota, S., et al.[2023]

A lifestyle counseling program in an occupational setting was feasible, with 53% of employees at risk for diabetes participating in follow-up sessions after an initial health check-up involving 2312 airline employees.

The program showed modest health benefits, particularly for men, as those who attended the counseling sessions were more likely to lose at least 5% of their weight and had a smaller increase in diabetes risk scores compared to those who did not attend.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in occupational health care: feasibility and effectiveness. Viitasalo, K., Hemiö, K., Puttonen, S., et al.[2018]

About 26.6% of private work sites with over 50 employees in the U.S. offer stress management activities, with the most common being information provision (80.7%) and creating a relaxing environment (64.8%).

The presence of stress management programs is more likely at larger work sites and those with medical staff, with nearly half of the sites reporting increased productivity as a benefit, while only 2.6% reported negative effects.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Work site stress management: national survey results. Fielding, JE.[2019]

A health survey of 1000 members from a large HMO revealed that while they had lower smoking risks and average weight risks, they had above-average risks related to exercise compared to state and national standards.

The survey indicated a strong interest in exercise and stress reduction programs, but older and more educated respondents showed less interest in attending fitness and weight control programs, suggesting a need for targeted strategies to engage these groups in health education.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Health risks and educational interests in an HMO. Terry, PE., Pheley, AM.[2017]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5169162/

The Effectiveness of a Stress Reduction and Burnout ... The program significantly reduced perceived stress and emotional exhaustion, with improvements maintained for at least 6 months post-intervention.

2. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05743205

Advanced Practice Provider Intervention Study to Promote ... This exploratory pilot study is designed as interventional study to examine the efficacy of a wellness initiative that involves use of a licensed clinical ...

3. withpower.com withpower.com/trial/phase-burnout-professional-11-2022-0caaa

Wellness Counseling for Burnout · Info for Participants Trial Overview The study tests the effectiveness of voluntary consultative wellness sessions with a licensed counselor to help manage stress, improve self-care, ...

4. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7901639/

Evaluating Wellness Interventions for Resident Physicians The effectiveness of wellness interventions was evaluated using wellness instruments to measure changes in dimensions of burnout, such as emotional exhaustion, ...

5. bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-025-12934-z

Effectiveness of wellness program interventions to improve ... Some common outcomes examples include burnout, depression, perceived stress, resiliency, job satisfaction, and perceived happiness. Study ...

6. healthpolicyohio.org healthpolicyohio.org/health-policy-news/2024/01/19/workplace-wellness-programs-offer-little-benefit-to-employees-study-finds

Workplace wellness programs offer little benefit to ... A new British study found that workers who participate in workplace wellness programs were no better off than colleagues who did not.