Journey Mapping Healthcare Worker Experience With Heart Rhythm Meditation.
Logan T Murry, Lisa Wilhelm, John Corrigan, Matthew J Witry
Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health January 16, 2023 DOI: 10.1177/2164957x231152796 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Exploratory cross-sectional online survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Healthcare workers currently practicing Heart Rhythm Meditation, recruited by purposeful sampling |
| Intervention | Heart Rhythm Meditation (HRM) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Burnout Well-being Empathy Stress resilience Journey mapping |
| Key findings | Healthcare workers practicing Heart Rhythm Meditation reported generally positive experiences, with an overall emotional experience score of 8.2/10, and open-ended comments described personal and professional benefits. A small number of participants reported challenges, including feeling difficult emotions during practice, leading the authors to suggest that resources and support are needed when considering HRM and other meditation forms. |
Abstract
Background: Levels of stress and burnout continue to rise amongst healthcare workers. In addition to systemic and institution-level changes to healthcare practice environments, well-being interventions, resources, and support to assist healthcare providers are necessary. Meditation practices like Heart Rhythm Meditation (HRM) may provide benefits to healthcare workers, but healthcare worker experiences with HRM are not well understood.
Objective: To explore healthcare worker experiences with HRM using a journey mapping approach.
Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional online survey was administered between May and July of 2020 to a purposeful sample of 25 healthcare workers currently practicing HRM. Surveys consisted of 5 open-ended and 36 multiple-choice items mapped to five journey mapping domains: Discover, Search, Assess, Decide, Assist. Descriptive statistics for survey items were generated in addition to a visual representation of a Persona and associated journey map for HRM. Content analysis was performed on open-ended responses using a general inductive approach to code responses and identify representative quotes.
Results: Twenty surveys were completed for a response rate of 80%. The majority of respondents identified as women (n = 14). From the journey mapping output, the overall emotional experience score was an 8.2/10, suggesting respondents had positive experiences with HRM. Open-ended comments suggest that HRM provides important benefits to the personal and professional lives of healthcare workers. A small number of participants reported challenges like feeling difficult emotions during HRM practice.
Conclusion: Mapping the healthcare worker journey with HRM identified generally positive experiences with personal and professional benefits. While experiences were largely positive, HRM elicited difficult emotions from some individuals, suggesting that appropriate resources and support are required when considering HRM and other meditation forms.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 16
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity Frontiers in Human Neuroscience October 9, 2018
- The Meditative Mind: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of MRI Studies BioMed Research International 2015
- A Qualitative Study with Healthcare Staff Exploring the Facilitators and Barriers to Engaging in a Self-Help Mindfulness-Based Intervention Mindfulness May 25, 2017
and 11 more in the library