RecruitingACTRN12620001113943

Investigating the effect of an online mindfulness app on workplace-associated psychological and physiological stress levels of direct care workers in rural Australian aged care

Examination of the effect of an online mindfulness app on workplace-associated psychological and physiological stress levels and the retention of direct care workers in rural Australian aged care

Sponsor

La Trobe University

Enrollment

60 participants

Start Date

Sep 28, 2020

Study Type

Interventional

Conditions

workplace stress

Summary

The project will examine workplace stress experienced by aged care workers. The experience of stress may cause physiological changes in immune and hormonal systems, and these changes can affect our mental and physical health. The project aims to extend the knowledge of the relationship between workplace stress, turnover intentions, and physiological markers of stress: salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA). Using a waitlist control design, participants will engage with a mindfulness smartphone intervention for three weeks. It will establish the relationships between mindfulness, stress and pre-clinical markers of diease. Participants will provide saliva samples and complete questionnaires at three time-points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-months post-intervention. This information is important as it will improve our understanding of the effects of workplace stress on the immune and hormonal systems and self-reported intentions to leave a vocation..

Eligibility

Sex: Both males and femalesMin Age: 18 Yearss

Plain Language Summary

Simplified for easier understanding

This study investigates whether a mindfulness smartphone app can reduce workplace stress among aged care workers in rural Australia. Working in aged care is physically and emotionally demanding, and high levels of stress can harm workers' mental and physical health, as well as contribute to staff burnout and high turnover rates. The researchers are particularly interested in how stress affects the immune and hormonal systems, measured through saliva samples. Participants will use a mindfulness app for three weeks and provide saliva samples (to measure cortisol, immune markers, and stress hormones) along with questionnaires at the start, end, and two months after the program. This will help the research team understand whether regular mindfulness practice can reduce not just self-reported stress, but also biological markers of stress. You may be eligible if you are over 18, work in an aged care facility in a direct-care role, work at least 20 hours per week, and have been employed for at least three months. People who are taking hormone replacement therapy are asked to self-exclude, as this can affect the physiological measurements.

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Interventions

Participants will be asked to engage in a 3-week mindfulness program delivered via a smartphone application (app), Smiling Mind (smilingmind.com.au). Smiling Mind is a free app available to download on iOS and Android devices and is accessible online. The app includes a variety of programs comprising of mindfulness meditations and activities ranging in duration from 1-45 minutes. For this study, participants will engage in the Healthcare Workers Program. The Healthcare Workers app was designed with easy to access information, resources and activities, developed to support users to “manage stress, improve focus and performance, and cultivate connection and resilience” (smilingmind.com.au). The Healthcare Workers Program contains 8 modules: Introduction – What is Mindfulness, Mindfulness Foundations, Managing Stress, Sleep, Thinking Clearly, Connection, Resilience, and Extending your Mindfulness Practice. The modules comprise of a total 51 sessions, 5 educational (e.g., What is mindfulness, Stress management), 8 activity (e.g., Exploring the breath, Journaling exercise), and 38 guided meditation (e.g. Body scan, Brain break) sessions. The majority of the in-app sessions are audio delivered, with some video and text delivered sessions. Participants will be asked to engage in guided mindfulness meditation for approximately 15 minutes three times a week for 3 weeks. Participants will be asked to complete and record a brief daily log of activities.’recording only the number of minutes spent using the app. To monitor adherence to the intervention, usage data (mins.) will be obtained from Smiling Mind (with participant permission).

Locations(1)

VIC, Australia

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ACTRN12620001113943