Bournemouth University Resilience Training for Surgeons

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The challenges that characterise surgical practice may result in a myriad of stressors that impact upon the personal and professional lives of surgeons. This includes a high likelihood that surgeons will have to deal with adverse patient outcomes due to surgical complications and errors, sometime during their careers. Such stressors can have undesirable effects on the surgeon in terms of quality of life and psychological well-being (e.g. anxiety, feelings of regret), as well as lowered professional confidence and impaired perceptions of professional competence. Furthermore, there is evidence that these kinds of negative impacts can also lead to burnout and depression. As well as the detrimental effects on surgeons and those around them, this in turn may lead to more errors and poorer outcomes for patients. This study will examine the efficacy of an ACT based training intervention to enhance resilience and psychological flexibility.

Detailed Description
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Research in a range of occupational settings has indicated that resilience plays an important role in ameliorating the impact of adverse events in high pressure environments. This project will use a randomised controlled trial research design to assess the efficacy of brief one-to-one Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTr), designed to enhance surgeons' psychological resilience. According to the model ACTr is based on, psychopathology is primarily the consequence of psychological inflexibility i.e. inability to persist or change behaviour according to long-term values due to language and cognition skills, which has particular significance when an individual is confronted with stress or adversity. The main aim of this research is to assess the efficacy of a brief one-to-one Acceptance and Commitment Training course. Researchers wish to ascertain whether such a course can increase surgeons' resilience by increasing psychological flexibility, valuing and self-compassion (all of which are expected to be positively impacted by this training). This research will fill a gap in the relevant research literature; namely that no research project as far as we are aware has evaluated ACTr as a means to enhance resilience in surgeons. In fact any research conducted on resilience training with a surgical population is rare.

Official Title
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Ameliorating the Impact of Complications and Errors on Surgeons: Resilience Training for Surgeons.

Conditions
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Effect of Training

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: ACTr (Acceptance and Commitment Training)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Trainee surgeons and consultant surgeons Exclusion Criteria: None

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 21 Years
Maximum Age: 75 Years

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: Intervention Group<br>Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTr) | Behavioral: ACTr (Acceptance and Commitment Training)<br>* The programme is based on Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), a contemporary, empirically supported approach to psychological well-being.<br>|
| No Intervention: Wait-list control<br>No intervention during trial. Participants in this group will be offered the training once the study is complete. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Resilience - Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) | A self-report measure of psychological resilience. Higher values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| General Health - General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). | A self reported measure of minor psychological symptomology in a non-clinical population. | 20 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CBI (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory) | A self-report measure of vulnerability to burnout. Lower values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| DASS21 (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) | A self-report measure of depression, stress and anxiety. Lower values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| VLQ (Value Living Questionnaire) | A self-report measure of valuing. Higher values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| WAAQ (Work related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire) | A self-report measure of work related psychological flexibility. Higher values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| AAQII (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire) | A self-report measure of general psychological inflexibility. Lower values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| SCS (Self Compassion Scale) | A self-report measure of self compassion. Higher values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 
| SPS (Sense of Preparedness Scale) | A self-report measure of preparedness for potential future events. Higher values represent a better outcome. | 20 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Resilience, Psychological flexibility, Acceptance and Commitment Training