A new study found that engaging in well-being behaviors may be one part of the solution toward increasing resilience in health care workers.
The research was published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research (2022) using baseline data from health care workers enrolled in the Web-based Implementation of the Science for Enhancing Resilience longitudinal study (N = 2,383).
The study aimed to describe the association of (a) types of well-being behaviors (regular exercise, yoga, meditation, spent time with a close friend, vacation) and (b) total number of well-being behaviors with resilience (emotional thriving and emotional recovery).
Findings indicated that each well-being behavior was significantly associated with greater emotional thriving, while exercise and spending time with friends were significantly related to greater emotional recovery.
Emotional thriving and emotional recovery were also significantly higher among health care workers reporting more well-being behaviors.
These results indicate that health care providers may benefit from interventions aimed at increasing healthy behaviors such as exercise and socializing with friends to prevent burnout common among these professionals.
We recommend expanding the number of health behaviors targeted in resiliency programs to include increasing healthy nutrition, sleep, and coping skills for addressing stress along with avoiding substance misuse to further strengthen resiliency and well-being among health care and similarly prevention professionals at risk for burnout.
One example of a well-being-based resiliency promotion intervention is the new InShape Wellness Lifestyle Training (WLT) Program.
InShape WLT is a brief evidence-informed intervention that integrates the promotion of physical activity and exercise, healthy nutrition, sleep, stress control and the avoidance of substance misuse for adults.
Read the study abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34039117/
Learn more about the InShape Wellness Lifestyle Training Program: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/inshape-wellness-lifestyle-training-wlt