Evaluation of the effectiveness of a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion program to reduce stress and prevent burnout in Primary Care health professionals

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Program on the levels of stress and burnout in Primary Care health professionals. Design: Randomised, controlled clinical trial. Participants and setting: Training in Mindfulness was offered to 1,281 health professionals in Navarra (Spain) Primary Care, and 48 of them accepted. The participants were randomly assigned to groups: 25 to the intervention group, and the remaining 23 to the control group. Intervention: The Mindfulness and Self-Compassion training program consisted of sessions of 2.5chours/week for 8 weeks. The participants had to attend at least 75% of the sessions and perform a daily practical of 45 minutes. Main measurements: The levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, perceived stress, and burnout were measured using four questionnaires before and after the intervention. Results: After the intervention, the scores of the intervention group improved significantly in mindfulness (P < .001); perceived stress (P < .001); self-compassion: self-kindness P < .001, shared humanity P = .004, mindfulness P = .001; and burnout: emotional fatigue (P = .046). The comparison with the control group showed significant differences in mindfulness (P < .001), perceived stress (P < .001), self-kindness (P < .001) and emotional fatigue (P = .032). Conclusions: This work suggests that it may be beneficial to encourage mindfulness and self compassion practices in the health environment. (C) 2017 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.