The effects of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) on health‐care workers

Abstract

Background

The main objective of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) on various aspects of burnout and job satisfaction in health‐care workers. Specifically, this study sought to investigate whether CCT reduces work‐related burnout, interpersonal conflict, as well as increases of mindfulness, compassion toward the self, fears of compassion, and job satisfaction scores.

Method

Participants consisted of 62 adults, who identified as health‐care workers between the ages 22 and 80. All participants completed an 8‐week CCT course and filled out questionnaires related to self‐compassion, fears of compassion, mindfulness, burnout, job satisfaction, and interpersonal conflict. The questionnaires were administered by email during the first, middle, and last weeks of CCT, as well as 1 month after completion of CCT (follow‐up).

Results

The results for this study demonstrated significant improvements in participants’ self‐compassion, mindfulness, and interpersonal conflict scores. In addition, the results indicated marginally significant improvements in self‐reported job satisfaction scores. No differences were observed on the burnout measure due to possible floor effects.

Conclusions

The general conclusions of this study are that CCT may be helpful at improving several aspects of health in health‐care providers, such as self‐reported mindfulness, self‐compassion, compassion toward others, and interpersonal conflict. The implications of this study are that this training may promote mental health resilience in health‐care workers, improve patient care, and may be helpful in burnout prevention. Further implications and future directions are discussed.

Abstract

Key words:

• burnout
• compassion
• job satisfaction
• mindfulness
• self‐compassion

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.

Acknowledgements

The authors of this article would like to acknowledge Sharp Memorial Hospital and Stanford University for their support in carrying out this project. A special thanks to Dr Kelly McGonigal and Geshe Thupten Jinpa for offering feedback on this project.

Notes

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.

1. Specifically, CCT was created by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D. in collaboration with researchers and practitioners at Stanford University and the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).

2. CCT consists of six steps: mindfulness, loving kindness and compassion for a loved one, loving kindness and compassion for the self, compassion toward others through embracing common humanity, compassion toward all beings, and active compassion practice.