Browsing by Subject "wellness"

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    A Congregational Wellness Challenge: The Feasibility of a Holistic Church-Based Health Promotion Program in Durham, North Carolina
    (2016) Perry, Kathleen Rebecca

    Background: Church-based health promotion programs have been shown to be effective in improving health outcomes, but rarely do they approach wellness from a holistic standpoint. This is a missed opportunity for fuller integration within congregations. This study sought to assess and evaluate the feasibility of a holistic multi-site church-based health promotion program, through engagement, acceptability, and preliminary behavior change outcomes. Methods: This study utilized a concurrent mixed-methods approach in order to evaluate the “Congregational Wellness Challenge” (CWC), a pilot initiative that encouraged behavior change in three areas of holistic wellness: body, spirit, and soul, over six weeks. Participants were asked to complete one activity from each of the three categories every day for forty days, and congregations were encouraged to support those participating in the challenge. This study utilized a pre-post one-group design. Participants were surveyed at baseline and at six weeks about their health behaviors and opinions of the programs, as well as recording their behaviors on activity logs. Seventeen semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted eight weeks post-challenge. Results: The 39 participants in the study completed 64.2% of the activities during the challenge. There was a significant increase in several of the body health variables. The number of people reporting 30 minutes of physical activity about once a week, two or three times a week or every day, compared to (no times a week?) nearly doubled, from 43.5% to 82.6% (p=0.012). Vegetable and fruit intake also significantly increased, from 52.2% of people reporting eating at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits daily to 100% of respondents (p=0.001). Frequency of reading for pleasure significantly increased, as did Scripture meditation, bible study, and singing to the Lord. Qualitative results indicated an overall acceptability of the program. Participants had a variety of motivations for joining, and gave valuable feedback on the importance of recording their activities. Conclusion: The CWC pilot initiative was feasible in a wide variety of churches, and future research should focus on the effectiveness of holistic wellness programs and improving implementation practices.

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    Stress and burnout in residents: impact of mindfulness-based resilience training.
    (Adv Med Educ Pract, 2015) Goldhagen, Brian E; Kingsolver, Karen; Stinnett, Sandra S; Rosdahl, Jullia A
    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Stress and burnout impact resident physicians. This prospective study tests the hypothesis that a mindfulness-based resilience intervention would decrease stress and burnout in residents. METHODS: Resident physicians from the Departments of Family Medicine, Psychiatry, and Anesthesia at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, participated in two or three 1-hour sessions of mindfulness-based resilience activities, which introduced mindful-awareness and included practical exercises for nurturing resilience. Anonymous surveys were distributed before (completed by 47 residents) and after the intervention (both completed by 30 residents); a follow-up survey was distributed 1 month later (seven residents completed all three surveys). The survey included the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, 21-question version (DASS-21), the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and ten questions from the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. RESULTS: At baseline, most residents' scores were in the normal range with respect to stress; however, female residents had higher DASS-21 scores than male residents (31.7, females vs 18.4, males; P=0.002). Most residents' burnout scores were in the abnormal range, both with respect to exhaustion (38/47 residents, subscore ≥2.25) and disengagement (37/47 residents, subscore ≥2.1). Higher perceived levels of stress correlated with the instruments. Analysis of the surveys before and after the intervention showed no significant short-term change in stress, burnout, mindful-awareness, or cognitive failure. There was a trend for females and post-medical school graduate year 1 and 2 (PGY1 and PGY2) residents to have a reduction in DASS-21 scores after intervention. There was also a trend of reduced stress and burnout in residents who perceived higher stress. CONCLUSION: Residents who are female, PGY1 and PGY2, and who perceive residency to be stressful may benefit most from a mindfulness-based resilience intervention.