Online Modules to Alleviate Burnout and Related Symptoms Among Interdisciplinary Staff in Long-Term Care: A Non-randomized Feasibility Study

Background The rising trend of providing palliative care to residents in Canadian long-term care facilities places additional demands on care staff, increasing their risk of burnout. Interventions and strategies to alleviate burnout are needed to reduce its impact on quality of patient care and overall functioning of healthcare organizations. Aim To examine the feasibility of implementing online modules with the primary goal of determining recruitment and retention rates, completion time and satisfaction with the modules. A secondary goal was to describe changes in burnout and related symptoms associated with completing the modules. Setting This single-arm, nonrandomized feasibility study was conducted in five long-term care sites of a publicly-funded healthcare organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Eligible participants were clinical staff who worked at least 1 day per month. Results A total of 103 study participants consented to participate, 31 (30.1%) of whom were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 72 participants, 64 (88.9%) completed the modules and all questionnaires. Most participants completed the modules in an hour (89%) and found them easy to understand (98%), engaging (84%), and useful (89%). Mean scores on burnout and secondary traumatic stress decreased by .9 (95% CI: .1-1.8; d = .3) and 1.4 (95% CI: .4-2.4; d = .4), respectively; mean scores on compassion satisfaction were virtually unchanged. Conclusions Modules that teach strategies to reduce burnout among staff in long-term care are feasible to deliver and have the potential to reduce burnout and related symptoms. Randomized controlled trials are needed to assess effectiveness and longer-term impact.