Clinical trial NCT04531774: RECHARGE: A Brief Psychological Intervention to Build Resilience in Healthcare Workers During COVID-19
Official title: RECHARGE: A Brief Psychological Intervention to Build Resilience in Healthcare Workers During COVID-19
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stress
Burnout
Anxiety
Depression
Covid19
Keywords: Health Care Workers
Stress
Anxiety
Depression
Burnout
Work Load
COVID-19
Resilience
Brief Psychological Intervention
Lead sponsor: University of Zurich
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The University of New South Wales
First posted: 2020-08-28
Enrollment: 160
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The healthcare industry is inherently demanding, stressful, and, at times, emotionally draining. On a typical day, many workers must make rapid and critical decisions, manage numerous demands, team conflicts, and challenging situations with patients and their families. For some health care workers (HCW), the current pandemic - COVID-19 - has also exacerbated these challenges. Providing psychological support is key in alleviating stress among HCWs, yet the situation does not require therapy because HCWs do not principally suffer from a mental disorder. RECHARGE was specifically developed for HCWs and is an abbreviated online version of Problem Management Plus, an evidence-based intervention that helps to cope with stress in times of crisis. As a brief psychological intervention for adults affected by adversity emerging from stress exposure, RECHARGE teaches people three well-documented strategies to manage acute stress (a: managing stress, b: managing worry, c: meaningful activity). It includes psychoeducation, arousal reduction techniques, managing worries and problem-solving skills, behavioral activation, and enhancement of meaningful activities, which are all based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of RECHARGE to reduce stress in HCWs and enhance their work performance. Participants in this randomized controlled trial (RCT) study are randomly assigned to either RECHARGE or the active control group. To this end, stress including symptoms of burnout, worries, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and work performance will be measured at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 2 and 6 month follow up.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Anxiety and depression checklist (K10) score of 16 or higher
* Healthcare worker
* Sufficient German language comprehension
* Access to teleconferencing platform

Exclusion Criteria:

* Currently participating in a similar study
* Currently in psychotherapeutic treatment / coaching
* Currently on sick leave for more than 2 weeks

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change from Baseline in psychological distress Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) at Week 5 and Week 13
timeFrame: Baseline (Week 1), post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Fewer worries in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Less anxiety symptoms in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Fewer depression symptoms in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Lower level of burnout in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Less traumatic stress in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Lower level of distress due to perceived moral injury in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
measure: Higher work performance in intervention group than in active control group
timeFrame: post-intervention (Week 5) and 2 month follow-up (Week 13)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Zürich
country: Switzerland
facility: Klinik für Konsiliarpsychiatrie und Psychosomatik
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Zurich
name: Naser Morina, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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