Effect of a Life Coaching Intervention on the Well-being and Distress of Physicians

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Burnout; Distress, Emotional

Treatments: Behavioral: Life Coaching

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05149911

20210617-01H

Details and patient eligibility

About

There is a widespread epidemic of distress and burnout (i.e., extreme distress) among Canadian physicians. Burnout is costly to physicians, patients, and healthcare organizations as it compromises physicians' own health and reduces their capacity to deliver high quality, safe care to patients. Life coaching delivered by certified coaches is a personal development tool. Life coaching has been proven to help individuals maximize their strengths and skills to handle stressors, regain control over their lives, act according to their core values, and achieve their full potential, consequently reducing their vulnerability to burnout. The investigators will evaluate life coaching for physicians' well-being in the current Canadian context. Physicians from centres in Canada will be randomly assigned to life coaching (intervention) or no coaching (control) group. The coaching group will receive a 1-hour initial coaching session followed by five 30-minute coaching sessions occurring at a frequency of every 2 to 3 weeks within 5 months (total of 3.5 coaching hours). All coaching sessions will be delivered virtually by certified life coaches. The investigators will assess the impact of coaching on physician distress and quality of life before and after the intervention.

Enrollment: 180 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Registered staff physician, resident, or fellow
• Currently practicing in Canada
• (For the 'Francophone minority patients' group only) Sometimes conducts thorough consultations completely in French for French-speaking patients outside Quebec

Exclusion criteria

• Previously received life coaching in the last 5 years
• Currently receiving psychotherapy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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180 participants in 2 patient groups

Coaching

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to the coaching group will receive a 1-hour initial professional coaching session followed by five 30-minute professional coaching sessions occurring at a goal frequency of every 2 to 3 weeks within 5 months (total of 3.5 coaching hours). All coaching sessions will be conducted individually (i.e. between one coach and one participant). Participants will be able to request coaching on any topic to individualize the intervention, but the general structure of the sessions will be standardized across participants. All coaching sessions will be performed over the phone or virtual web meeting as standard in coaching practices.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Life Coaching

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants randomized to the control group will receive "no intervention" but will be asked to complete the distress and wellness survey at the same time points as participants in the intervention group. Participants in the control group will receive the life coaching intervention after the statistical analysis is completed.