Virtual Mindfulness Rounds in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Mount Sinai Health System

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Stress

Treatments: Other: Mindfulness Rounds

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04431297

GCO 20-1022

Details and patient eligibility

About

Mindfulness education will be provided via a virtual platform to see if staff stress can be decreased during this time of pandemic.

Full description

Healthcare workers have been front and center in battling the COVID crisis. This is a situation the researchers could never have envisioned before it happened. Of course, this has triggered an inordinate amount of stress. Research shows that chronic stress leaves one imbalanced and one's health and happiness to suffer. Research has also demonstrated that how one thinks about stress determines how the body responds to it. Simple mindfulness practices provide healthier ways to deal with stress. In this study, the researchers will introduce modified mindfulness practices that can be practiced in the healthcare setting or at home. All of the practices are based on mindfulness principles. Mindfulness refers to a state of being present in the moment, on purpose, and without judgment. "Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction" is an 8 week, 2 hours/week curriculum that has shown results for over 40 years. All the practices in this study are adapted from that protocol.

The intervention includes several mindfulness practices including an awareness of breath focus instruction, breath-and-body coordination and awareness instruction, and instruction in identifying times to practice these exercises. The intervention will be delivered virtually 2-day/week, twice/day, for four weeks.

Effectiveness will be measured by the voluntary, anonymous submission of a Perceived Stress Scale, a validated survey tool to determine an individual's perceived stress level.

Participants will be healthcare workers and hospital staff in the Mount Sinai Hospital system.

Enrollment: 15 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Mount Sinai Hospital employee

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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15 participants in 1 patient group

Health Care Workers

Other group

Description:

Voluntary participation in the virtual presentations

Treatment:

Other: Mindfulness Rounds