Supporting the Wellness of Ontario Physicians During COVID-19

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the challenge of physician burnout has taken on a new urgency. Long-hours and difficult, sometimes unsafe work conditions are creating a severe strain for emergency physicians and others on the frontlines of Ontario's response to COVID-19. There are a variety of evidence-informed ways that physicians can protect their wellbeing with modest investments of time and energy that will be applied. The evaluation will be a randomized trial comparing the outcomes from each of the three treatment arms. Researchers may also use a pre-post comparison with control parameters to conduct an exploratory analysis to assess efficacy.

Official Title
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Supporting the Wellness of Ontario Physicians During COVID-19

Conditions
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Mental Health Wellness 1, Anxiety, Happiness

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Remote SMS (short message service, also known as text message) delivery


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Active membership to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). Up-to-date cell phone information registered to the OMA. Exclusion Criteria: Participation in the OMA Physician Burnout Task Force. Opt-out from the intervention.
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: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Receive weekly SMS containing wellness stories shared by other Ontario physicians<br> | Other: Remote SMS (short message service, also known as text message) delivery<br>* Assessing the comparative effects of SMS types (storytelling; resources/strategies; and a combination of both) on physician wellbeing.<br>|
| Experimental: Receive weekly SMS containing aim wellness resources/strategies.<br> | Other: Remote SMS (short message service, also known as text message) delivery<br>* Assessing the comparative effects of SMS types (storytelling; resources/strategies; and a combination of both) on physician wellbeing.<br>|
| Experimental: Receive weekly SMS combining wellness stories & resources/strategies<br> | Other: Remote SMS (short message service, also known as text message) delivery<br>* Assessing the comparative effects of SMS types (storytelling; resources/strategies; and a combination of both) on physician wellbeing.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wellbeing (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale measure) | Self-reported wellbeing scores, as measured by the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale--(S)WEMWBS. The (S)WEMWBS is designed to measure positive mental wellbeing and asks people to what extent they agree with statements such as I've been feeling optimistic about the future, I've been feeling relaxed, and I've been feeling close to people. This scale has a range of 7 to 35; higher scores indicate higher positive mental wellbeing. | 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Happiness (UK ONS measure) | Self-reported happiness scores, as measured through weekly pulse surveys using a question developed by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) - hereby referred to as ONS-happiness (on a scale where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?). This scale has a range from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater happiness. | 6 months | 
| Anxiety (UK ONS measure) | Self-reported anxiety scores, as measured through pulse surveys using an ONS question, hereby referred to as ONS-anxiety (on a scale where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?). This scale has a range from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. | 6 months |