Search Results (7)

Background/Objectives: Burnout is a highly prevalent issue among physicians. Recent research has indicated that personality traits, such as narcissism, may influence the development of burnout. This study investigates the relationship between the threatened self (TS) narcissism subscale and burnout in male physicians. Methods: We analyzed data from 60 male physicians in Switzerland, divided into burnout (n = 30) and control (n = 30) groups. Male physicians in Switzerland were recruited via hospitals, clinics, medical associations, professional journals, and direct email outreach. We assessed participants using the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI-HSS) and the Narcissism Inventory (NI-20). A generalized linear model (GLM) was used for the statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that lower TS scores were significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of burnout, suggesting that self-esteem instability and emotional vulnerability, characteristic of TS, may act as risk factors for burnout. Furthermore, we found that Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) was significantly associated with burnout. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering personality traits such as TS in burnout research and could be explored in further studies. In clinical practice, increasing therapists’ awareness of TS may support more targeted interventions and help prevent the onset of burnout. Full article

Background/Objectives: To assess the factors affecting the unconscious bias of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in obesity care. Methods: A cross-sectional, non-interventional, descriptive study collecting data via an online survey system was distributed via e-mail to 11,597 members of the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. Physicians were assigned into six HCP categories: (junior) resident physicians, primary care physicians (PCPs), internal medicine specialists, surgeons, dentists, and others. The online questionnaire was active for two weeks. Results: A total of 1248 physicians opened the survey link (10.8% response rate). Of the 898 physicians that engaged in the survey, 789 fully completed the questionnaire. Out of those physicians, 93.6% agreed that obesity is a disease, 83.7% were familiar with the definition, and 75.5% of HCPs were professionally interested in the subject. Overall, 39% of HCPs use the ICD obesity code, primarily primary care physicians and specialists in internal medicine. Notably, 82.0% of HCPs identified lifestyle change as the most effective intervention and believed that patients could lose weight with a serious attempt at a lifestyle change. This belief was particularly supported by male HCPs and HCPs under 40 years of age, who felt that patients were entirely responsible for their weight. The unconscious bias decreased with an increase in the HCPs’ body mass index (BMI), but at the same time, physicians with a higher BMI found obesity to be less important than other diseases (p = 0.036). Using composite answers, we found that the unconscious bias of HCPs toward obesity and effective obesity care was significantly related to gender (p = 0.017), age (p < 0.001), and BMI (p = 0.005), and was independent of an area of expertise. Conclusions: HCPs’ area of expertise impacted their professional standpoint (suggesting conscious bias), whereas male gender, a younger age, and a lower BMI affected unconscious bias toward obesity and its effective care. Despite their limitations, including the self-reported nature of the data, our findings can help to individualize educational strategies and create a more equitable environment in obesity healthcare. Full article

Animal shelters play a pivotal role in protecting pets in crisis and bringing families together. This paper adds to the work of Hoy-Gerlach and colleagues which outlined a three-tier framework for developing and training veterinary social workers (VSWs) to serve in animal shelters. Our research questions sought to explore the VSWs’ self-identified role (RQ1), and how VSWs self-identify their scope of practice (RQ2). Through these exploratory questions, our research aimed to advance knowledge about the state of VSWs in the animal-shelter setting. Methods: Using a purposive sampling strategy, an anonymous community practice survey (CPS) was emailed to VSWs working in animal shelters. Inclusion criteria included being over the age of 18, being currently employed in an animal shelter, and cognitive fluency in English. The survey yielded 25 responses with 14 included in the data analysis. Findings: The VSWs identified their role as supporting multiple groups, including clients and their practice community (i.e., colleagues). While most of their time was devoted to individuals from the community, they also supported the mental wellbeing of their team. Their work ranged from case management and psychoeducation to crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment. As there are no standards of practice for VSWs, each respondent used unique language to explain their role and scope of practice. Conclusions: The CPS was helpful in illuminating developing trends within the field, though a larger sample size is needed to gain a more nuanced understanding of self-identified needs of VSWs practicing in animal shelters and other related spaces. Full article

Counselling helplines or hotlines are key support services for young people with mental health concerns or in suicide and self-harm crises. We aimed to describe young peoples’ use of a national youth helpline (Kids Helpline, Australia, KHL) to understand how usage changed over time. A descriptive analysis was conducted on 1,415,228 answered contacts between 2012–2018. We described the trend of service usage over the observed period, the types of youth who used the service, and the problems young people contacted the service about. Phone (APC = −9.1, KHL: −10.4 to −7.8, p < 0.001) and email (APC = −13.7, 95%CI: −17.1 to −10.2, p < 0.001) contacts decreased over time whereas webchat contacts increased (APC = 16.7, 95%CI: 11.7 to 22.0, p < 0.001). With this increase in webchat contacts, there was an associated increase in total webchat contact duration. Concerns raised in contacts to the service were primarily related to emotional wellbeing and mental health concerns (53.2% phone, 57.3% webchat, 58.2% email) followed by social relationship issues (20.4% phone, 20.3% webchat, 16.8% email) and family relationships (19.4% phone, 17.2% webchat, 21.8% email). The increased preference for online text-based information and counselling services can help inform development of services for young people and allocation of staff/service training and resources. Full article

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) will undoubtedly have psychological impacts for healthcare workers, which could be sustained; frontline workers will be particularly at risk. Actions are needed to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health by protecting and promoting the psychological wellbeing of healthcare workers during and after the outbreak. We developed and evaluated a digital learning package using Agile methodology within the first three weeks of UK outbreak. This e-package includes evidence-based guidance, support and signposting relating to psychological wellbeing for all UK healthcare employees. A three-step rapid development process included public involvement activities (PPIs) (STEP 1), content and technical development with iterative peer review (STEP 2), and delivery and evaluation (STEP 3). The package outlines the actions that team leaders can take to provide psychologically safe spaces for staff, together with guidance on communication and reducing social stigma, peer and family support, signposting others through psychological first aid (PFA), self-care strategies (e.g., rest, work breaks, sleep, shift work, fatigue, healthy lifestyle behaviours), and managing emotions (e.g., moral injury, coping, guilt, grief, fear, anxiety, depression, preventing burnout and psychological trauma). The e-package includes advice from experts in mental wellbeing as well as those with direct pandemic experiences from the frontline, as well as signposting to public mental health guidance. Rapid delivery in STEP 3 was achieved via direct emails through professional networks and social media. Evaluation included assessment of fidelity and implementation qualities. Essential content was identified through PPIs (n = 97) and peer review (n = 10) in STEPS 1 and 2. The most important messages to convey were deemed to be normalisation of psychological responses during a crisis, and encouragement of self-care and help-seeking behaviour. Within 7 days of completion, the package had been accessed 17,633 times, and healthcare providers had confirmed immediate adoption within their health and wellbeing provisions. Evaluation (STEP 3, n = 55) indicated high user satisfaction with content, usability and utility. Assessment of implementation qualities indicated that the package was perceived to be usable, practical, low cost and low burden. Our digital support package on ‘psychological wellbeing for healthcare workers’ is free to use, has been positively evaluated and was highly accessed within one week of release. It is available here: Supplementary Materials. This package was deemed to be appropriate, meaningful and useful for the needs of UK healthcare workers. We recommend provision of this e-package to healthcare workers alongside wider strategies to support their psychological wellbeing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

Background: Many behaviour-change technologies have been designed to help people with a sedentary lifestyle to become more physically active. However, challenges exist in designing systems that work effectively. One of the key challenges is that many of those technologies do not account for differences in individuals’ psychological characteristics. To address that problem, tailoring the communication between a system and its users has been proposed and examined. Although in the research related to public health education, message tailoring has been studied extensively as a technique to communicate health information and to educate people, its use in the design of behaviour-change technologies has not been adequately investigated. Objective: The goal of this study was to explore the impact of message tailoring, when tailoring was grounded in Higgins’ Regulatory Fit Theory, and messages were constructed to promote physical activity. Method: An email intervention was designed and developed that sent participants daily health messages for 14 consecutive days. There were three categories of messages: reminders, promotion-, and prevention-messages. The effect of the messages on behaviour was compared between those who received messages that fitted their self-regulatory orientation, versus those who received non-fitted messages. Results: Participants who received promotion- or prevention-messages walked for longer periods of time, compared to those who received reminders in the control group. When comparing the first two groups, promotion-message-recipients on average walked more than those who received prevention-messages. In other words, promotion messages acted more persuasively than prevention-messages and reminders. Contrary to our hypothesis, those individuals who received messages that fitted their self-regulatory orientation did not walk more than those who received non-fitted messages. Conclusions: The efficacy of Higgins’ Regulatory Fit Theory in the design of tailored health messages was examined. This study did not find support for the use of that theory in guiding the design of persuasive health messages that promote physical activity. Therefore, more research is necessary to investigate the effectiveness of tailoring strategies. Full article

Wearable devices (WD) are starting to increasingly be used for interventions to promote well-being by reducing anxiety disorders (AD). Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is one of the most commonly used biosignals for assessing the cardiovascular system as it significantly reflects the activity of the autonomic nervous system during emotional changes. Little is known about the accuracy of using ECG features for detecting ADs. Moreover, during our literature review, a limited number of studies were found that involve ECG collection using WD for promoting mental well-being. Thus, for the sake of validating the reliability of ECG features for detecting anxiety in WD, we screened 1040 articles, and only 22 were considered for our study; specifically 6 on panic, 4 on post-traumatic stress, 4 on generalized anxiety, 3 on social, 3 on mixed, and 2 on obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder articles. Most experimental studies had controversial results. Upon reviewing each of these papers, it became apparent that the use of ECG features for detecting different types of anxiety is controversial, and the use of ECG-WD is an emerging area of research, with limited evidence suggesting its reliability. Due to the clinical nature of most studies, it is difficult to determine the specific impact of ECG features on detecting ADs, suggesting the need for more robust studies following our proposed recommendations. Full article