A multi-site randomized controlled trial of a brief daily workplace well-being program for community mental health workers —an integrative body-mind-spirit approach

Abstract

Grounded in an integrative body-mind-spirit (BMS) approach, a brief daily workplace well-being program has been developed for community mental health workers (CMHW) who were vulnerable to burnout. Aiming to evaluate the program’s efficacy, this study adopted a multi-site randomized controlled trial design. Primary outcome measures included work engagement and burnout. The data analysis included 175 participants from 10 community mental health centers. ANOVA revealed significant group x time interaction effects on work engagement (η2 = 0.037, p = 0.039) and one of its sub-scores: absorption (η2=0.048, p=0.014). Regarding burnout, ANOVA revealed that at T4 there were significant group x time effects on burnout total score and all its three sub-scores, including work-related burnout, client-related burnout, and personal burnout. Partial eta squared ranged between 0.028 and 0.071, suggesting a small to medium effect size. Overall findings demonstrated the protective effect of the Brief Daily BMS program in preserving work engagement during challenging conditions, and to a lesser extent in reducing burnout among CMHW. Keywords: workplace well-being; body-mind-spirit; work engagement; burnout; community mental health