Use of Death Cafes to Prevent Burnout in ICU Healthcare Employees

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Burnout affects a significant number of healthcare employees and leads to worsened mental health, increased job turnover, and patient safety events. Those caring for critically ill patients may be especially susceptible due to high patient mortality, long hours, and regular encounters with traumatic and ethical issues. Preliminary studies suggest that debriefing opportunities may reduce burnout through reflection on distressing patient events, enhancement of social support, and interprofessional collaboration. Death Cafés are a specific form of debriefing that focus on discussing death, dying, loss, and illness. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether biweekly Death Cafe group debriefing sessions can prevent burnout in ICU physicians and staff.

Official Title
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Systematic Trial Of PrevenTing Healthcare Employee Burnout: Using Reflection & Nourishment

Conditions
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Burnout, Burnout, Professional, Burnout, Psychological, Anxiety, Depression

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Death Cafe


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, or therapists working in the Intensive Care Unit and have worked for the full-time equivalent of at least 1 week in the preceding 4 weeks Exclusion Criteria: Not physicians, nurses, pharmacists, or therapists Have worked less than the full-time equivalent of at least 1 week in the preceding 4 weeks
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Death Cafe Arm<br>Participants undergo biweekly Death Café sessions hosted by a trained psychotherapist for 3 months. | Behavioral: Death Cafe<br>* Death Cafés are a specific form of debriefing that focuses on discussing death, dying, loss, and illness. Nourishment in the form of cake is provided. These sessions may allow for reflection on distressing patient events while developing a sense of community and collaboration among hospital employees.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control Arm<br>Participants do not undergo biweekly Death Café sessions hosted by a trained psychotherapist for 3 months. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Differences in Burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory Score (MBI). | This is a validated 22-item, self-reported questionnaire that asks respondents to indicate on a 7 point Likert scale the frequency of certain feelings related to their job. Presence of burnout is defined by high values of depersonalization and emotional exhaustion with low values for personal accomplishment. Changes in mean scores between groups and within groups over time will be assessed. | At the time of enrollment and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months after enrollment | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Differences in Depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) | This is an 8 question validated questionnaire that asks respondents to indicate the frequency with which they have experienced certain symptoms consistent with depression. Higher scores mean higher frequency of depression symptoms, and a score of 10 or higher will be considered to indicate clinically significant depression. Changes in mean scores between groups and within groups over time will be assessed. | At the time of enrollment and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months after enrollment | 
| Differences in Anxiety as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Scale (GAD-7) | This is a 7 question validated questionnaire that asks respondents to indicate the frequency with which they have experienced certain symptoms consistent with anxiety. Higher scores mean higher frequency of anxiety symptoms, and a score of 10 or higher will be considered to indicate clinically significant anxiety. Changes in mean scores between groups and within groups over time will be assessed. | At the time of enrollment and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months after enrollment | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Critical Care, Nurses, Physicians, Healthcare Workers, Death, Grief, Stress, Psychological, Occupational Stress, Behavioral Symptoms, Coping Skills, Clinical Trial