The Effectiveness of Guided Imagery for a Nonprofit's Employees

Sponsor

FrontLine Service (Other)

Overall Status

Completed

CT.gov ID

NCT02191345

Collaborator

National Institutes of Health (NIH) (NIH)

Enrollment

Location

Arms

Duration (Months)

17.1

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Primary Aim A. To determine if listening to prerecorded guided imagery 3 times per week for 4 weeks will reduce state anxiety, perceived stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma in Fronltine Service staff.

Primary Aim B. To determine if staff will continue to listen to guided imagery after the first 4 weeks of the study is over.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Focus of Study Stress	Behavioral: Guided Imagery	N/A

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to compare the change in stress levels of employees who listen to prerecorded guided imagery to employees who take breaks, and to determine if employees are likely to adopt prerecorded guided imagery as a self-care tool.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the guided imagery group or the control group. Members of the control group will be asked to take a 10 minute break 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Members of the guided imagery group will be asked to listen to one prerecorded guided imagery track 3 times per week for 4 weeks. All participants will fill out questionnaires before and after the 4 week period. All participants will fill out a short form before and after listening to each guided imagery, or before and after taking each break.

Phase 2: After phase 1 is complete, all participants will have the option to participate in phase 2 of the study. During phase 2, participants will receive a calendar and put a mark on every day that they listen to a guided imagery track. At the end of 4 weeks, participants will turn in the calendar.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

69 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

None (Open Label)

Primary Purpose:

Other

Official Title:

A Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring the Effectiveness of Prerecorded Guided Imagery in Reducing Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, Perceived Stress, and State Anxiety of a Mental Health Nonprofit's Employees

Study Start Date :

Jul 1, 2014

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Nov 1, 2014

Actual Study Completion Date :

Nov 1, 2014

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
No Intervention: 10 minute break Participants asked to take a 10 minute break as usual 3 times per week for 4 weeks
Experimental: Guided Imagery Participants listen to one of 6 pre-recorded guided imagery tracks 3 times per week for 4 weeks	Behavioral: Guided Imagery Guided imagery is a stress management technique that uses verbal suggestion and descriptive language to guide the listener into imagining sensations and visualizing images in the mind in order to bring about a desired physical response, such as reduction in anxiety, stress, or pain. The guided imagery tracks chosen for the study were chosen because their goal is relaxation and stress relief, and their length is under 15 minutes.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

No Intervention: 10 minute break

Participants asked to take a 10 minute break as usual 3 times per week for 4 weeks

Experimental: Guided Imagery

Participants listen to one of 6 pre-recorded guided imagery tracks 3 times per week for 4 weeks

Behavioral: Guided Imagery

Guided imagery is a stress management technique that uses verbal suggestion and descriptive language to guide the listener into imagining sensations and visualizing images in the mind in order to bring about a desired physical response, such as reduction in anxiety, stress, or pain. The guided imagery tracks chosen for the study were chosen because their goal is relaxation and stress relief, and their length is under 15 minutes.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

State Anxiety as Measured by the State Anxiety Short Form [4 weeks]
Participants in the experimental group will fill out the State Anxiety Short Form, a 6-item questionnaire before and after listening to guided imagery. Participants in the control group will fill out the same measure before and after taking a break. This will be done 3 times per week for a duration of 4 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Satisfaction, and Burnout, as measured by the ProQol [4 weeks]
Participants in both the control and experimental groups will complete the ProQol, a 30-item questionnaire, before and after the 4-week intervention period.
Perceived Stress as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale [4 weeks]
Participants in the experimental and control groups will complete the Perceived Stress Scale, a self-report, 10-item questionnaire, before and after the 4-week intervention period.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and Older

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

Staff of a nonprofit who work a minimum of three shifts per week
Willing and able to use about 8-15 minutes of their lunch hours three times per week for for four weeks for the study

Exclusion Criteria:

Staff members will be excluded from the study if they currently listen to guided imagery
Those currently experiencing drug or alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation, or other serious mental health issue while not under the care of a trained mental health professional will also be excluded

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	FrontLine Service	Cleveland	Ohio	United States	44114

Sponsors and Collaborators

FrontLine Service
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Investigators

Study Director: Ashwini Sehgal, MD, Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth Medical Center
Principal Investigator: Kimberly A Juhas, MA, FrontLine Service