Long-term benefits by a mind–body medicine skills course on perceived stress and empathy among medical and nursing students

Abstract

Background: A significant number of medical students suffer from burnout symptoms and reduced empathy. This controlled, quasi-experimental study aimed to investigate whether a mind–body medicine (MBM) skills course could reduce perceived stress and increase empathy and self-reflection in medical and nursing students.

Methods: The MBM course (consisting of experiential sessions of mind–body techniques and group reflections) was piloted among Dutch medical students and Swedish nursing students. Main outcome variables were perceived stress (PSS), empathy (IRI subscales perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and personal distress), and self-reflection (GRAS). Participating and control students completed questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, at 6 and 12 months follow-up.

Results: Seventy-four medical and 47 nursing students participated in the course. Participating medical students showed significantly increased empathic concern [1.42 (95% CI 0.05, 2.78), p = 0.042], increased fantasy [3.24 (95% CI 1.58, 4.90), p < 0.001], and decreased personal distress [−1.73 (95% CI −3.04, −0.35), p = 0.010] compared to controls until 12 months follow-up. Participating nursing students showed significantly decreased levels of perceived stress [−5.09 (95% CI −8.37, −1.82), p = 0.002] and decreased personal distress [−5.01 (95% CI −6.97, −3.06), p < 0.001] compared to controls until 12 months follow-up.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated long-term beneficial effects of the MBM course on perceived stress and empathy in medical and nursing students.

Glossary

Self-reflection: A conscious thought process that enables individuals to correct beliefs and leads to revised interpretations of experiences and new behaviors.

Mezirow J. 1992. Transformation theory: critique and confusion. Adult Educ Quart. 42:250–252.

Burnout: A prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job defined by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (i.e. treating people as impersonal objects), and reduced personal accomplishment.

Maslach C, Jackson SE, Leiter MP. 1996. Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual. 3rd ed. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Perceived stress: The degree to which individuals appraise situations in their lives as stressful. It represents the individual’s pattern of reacting to events and his/her ability to cope with these events.

Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. 1983. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav. 24:385–396.

Notes on contributors

Marja van Vliet, MSc, is a PhD student at the Health Sciences Department, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden and works as a researcher at the Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen, the Netherlands. Her work focuses on promoting resilience and vitality among patients and healthcare professionals.

Mats Jong, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Nursing at Mid Sweden University. He teaches in Nursing and Research Methodology and his research line is especially focused on developing a relationship based care from a Salutogenic perspective.

Miek Jong, PhD, is Managing Director of the Department of Nutrition & Health at the Louis Bolk Institute, Associate Professor Health Science at Mid Sweden University and board member of the NIKIM. Her areas of research include (clinical) studies into the effects of mind-body techniques and Integrative Medicine.

Additional information

Funding

The study was financially supported by grants of the Ekhaga Foundation, Sweden (grant number 2011-17), De Zaaier Foundation, Iona Foundation, and Phoenix Foundation, the Netherlands. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.