Pragmatic randomized controlled trial of the Mind Management Skills for Life Programme as an intervention for occupational burnout in mental healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Occupational burnout is highly prevalent in the mental healthcare workforce and associated with poorer job satisfaction, performance and outcomes. AIMS: To evaluate the effects of the Mind Management Skills for Life Programme on burnout and wellbeing. METHODS: N = 173 mental health nurses were recruited from the English National Health Service during the acute phase of the COVID-19 crisis. Participants were allocated to an immediate intervention or a delayed intervention control group, using a stepped wedge randomized controlled trial design. Measures of burnout (OLBI) and wellbeing (WEMWBS) were completed at four time-points: [1] baseline; [2] after the first group finished the intervention; [3] after the second group finished the intervention; and [4] six-months follow-up. RESULTS: Between-group differences were compared at each time-point using ANCOVA adjusting for baseline severity. Statistically significant effects on burnout (d = 0.60) and wellbeing (d = -0.62) were found at time-point 2, favouring the intervention relative to waitlist control. No significant differences were found at subsequent time-points, indicating that both groups improved and maintained their gains after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention led to moderate improvements in burnout and wellbeing, despite the adverse circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time of the study.