Healthcare Worker Well-Being After a 5-hour Continuous Communication and Intervention: The Well-B Randomized Clinical Trial
Clinical question: Does a brief continuing education intervention improve the well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs)?
Background: HCWs’ well-being has been severely impacted, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Small, evidence-based, positive psychology interventions show promise in improving HCW well-being. WELL-B is a five-hour continuing education program incorporating 10-minute well-being interventions designed to be accessible and effective for HCWs. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the WELL-B program in improving HCW well-being across four dimensions: emotional exhaustion, work-life integration, emotional thriving, and emotional recovery.
Study design: Randomized controlled trial
Setting: Inpatient and outpatient HCWs in the U.S.
Synopsis: 643 HCWs were randomized to two separate cohorts: one group underwent the WELL-B intervention, and a second was the control group. The WELL-B group participated in brief, 10-minute well-being activities across five sessions to address emotional exhaustion, work-life integration, emotional thriving, and emotional recovery in HCWs. Activities during these sessions covered topics such as gratitude, work-life integration, self-compassion, awe, and group-level well-being.
The trial demonstrated significant improvements in HCW well-being within just eight days. Despite some limitations (lack of long-term follow-up and a homogeneous participant group), WELL-B showed that brief, low-resource interventions could be effective in improving HCW well-being.
Bottom line: The WELL-B intervention is a simple, effective, and scalable tool that can rapidly improve HCW well-being, with promising results for broader implementation.
Citation: Sexton JB, Adair KC. Well-being outcomes of health care workers after a 5-hour continuing education intervention: the WELL-B randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(9):e2434362. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.34362.
Dr. Gelberg is an assistant clinical professor of medicine in the division of hospital medicine at UC San Diego Health at the University of California in San Diego.