Effect of an Intensive Mindful Practice Workshop on Patient-Centered Compassionate Care, Clinician Well-Being, Work Engagement, and Teamwork.
Ronald M Epstein, Frederick Marshall, Mechelle Sanders, Michael S. Krasner
The Journal of continuing education in the health professions 2022 DOI: 10.1097/ceh.0000000000000379 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 85 |
| Population | Physicians and medical educators attending four residential workshops |
| Intervention | personal narratives |
| Duration | 4-day workshop with 2-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Empathy Job satisfaction Burnout, professional Middle aged Patient-centered care Female Surveys and questionnaires Work engagement |
| Key findings | The authors report that an intensive, multiday mindfulness-based workshop for physicians produced clinically significant improvements in clinician well-being, quality of interpersonal care, work satisfaction, and meaning and engagement. Improvements appeared in most measured outcomes with effect sizes of 0.25 to 0.61, though teamwork, general well-being, and mindfulness became nonsignificant after Bonferroni adjustment. |
Abstract
Introduction: Mindfulness-based interventions for health professionals have been linked to improvements in burnout, well-being, empathy, communication, patient-centered care, and patient safety, but the optimal formats and intensity of training have been difficult to determine because of the paucity of studies and the heterogeneity of programs. A 4-days residential "Mindful Practice" workshop for physicians and medical educators featuring contemplative practices, personal narratives, and appreciative dialogs about challenging experiences may hold promise in improving participants' well-being while also improving compassionate care, job satisfaction, work engagement, and teamwork.
Methods: We collected baseline and 2-month follow-up data during four workshops conducted in 2018 to 2019 at conference centers in the United States and Europe. Primary outcomes were burnout, work-related distress, job satisfaction, work engagement, patient-centered compassionate care, and teamwork.
Results: Eighty-five of 120 participants (71%) completed both surveys (mean age was 49.3 and 68.2% female). There were improvements (P < .01) in two of three burnout components (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), work-related distress, job satisfaction, patient-centered compassionate care, work engagement and meaning, teamwork, well-being, positive emotion, mindfulness, somatic symptoms, and spirituality. Effect sizes (standardized mean difference of change) ranged from 0.25 to 0.61. With Bonferroni adjustments (P < .0031), teamwork, general well-being, and mindfulness became nonsignificant.
Discussion: An intensive, multiday, mindfulness-based workshop for physicians had clinically significant positive effects on clinician well-being, quality of interpersonal care and work satisfaction, and meaning and engagement, all important indicators of improved health and sustainability of the health care workforce. Future iterations of the program should increase the focus on teamwork.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Exploring the impact of mindfulness-based training on the well-being of physical therapists. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science 2023
- Digital Mindfulness Training for Burnout Reduction in Physicians: Clinician-Driven Approach. JMIR Formative Research January 24, 2025
- Can a mindful medicine workshop improve healthcare professional well-being? A quasi-experimental study Journal of Primary Health Care September 22, 2026
- Heart Centered Learning: Integrating Mindfulness, Breath, and Compassion for Well-Being and Connection American Journal of Qualitative Research June 2, 2026
- Creating a Mindful Culture: Exploring Mental Models that Influence Mindfulness Implementation in Hospital Settings—An Action Research Study Mindfulness May 1, 2026
and 2 more in the library
Cites 12
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology October 27, 2008
- Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication With Burnout, Empathy, and Attitudes Among Primary Care Physicians JAMA September 22, 2009
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- What defines mindfulness-based programs? The warp and the weft Psychological Medicine December 29, 2016
and 7 more in the library