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.