In this randomized controlled trial; differences in overall stress, burnout and wellbeing will be assessed for employees of a company participating in Inner Engineering Online, an online mind-body course that incorporates both meditation and yoga. The study will be conducted in two phases, where in participants will be advised to practice meditation or read books.
The benign behavioral intervention involved is Inner Engineering Online (IEO), a mind-body course that incorporates meditation and yoga, as well as reading a book or journal of their choice.The subjects will be randomized into two groups after they agree to the participate in the study. The study will be conducted in 2 phases. Phase 1: If they are in group 1, they will participate in IEO which includes practice of meditation \& yoga daily for a minimum of 30 minutes and complete a IEO activity log for 30 days.They will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires at baseline and after 30 days.If they are in group 2, they are asked to read a book or journal of their choice for 30 minutes each day for the first 30 days and complete a reading log. Phase 2: After they complete reading for 30 days, group 2 participants will now participate in IEO which includes practice of meditation \& yoga daily for a minimum of 30 minutes and complete an IEO activity log for the next 30 days. They are asked to complete a set of questionnaires at baseline, 30 days, and at 60 days. These questionnaires aim to assess for burnout, stress, and well-being. These include: * Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey - 16 item questionnaire measuring burnout * Perceived Stress Scale - 10 item questionnaire measuring stress * Center for Epidemiology Studies depression Scale (CES-D) - 20 item questionnaire measuring depression * Emotional Distress and Anxiety Short Form - 7 item questionnaire measuring anxiety * Joy subscale of the Dispositional Positive Emotion Scale - 6 item questionnaire measuring happiness * Mindful Attention Awareness Scale - 15 item questionnaire measuring mindfulness Finally, participants of both the groups will be subjected to a 30 day follow-up surveys after a month of IEO completion. They will receive a set of previously administered questionnaire and a compliance survey at this point. Group 1 participants receive this survey at the 60 day time point while Group 2 participants receive it at 90 days.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
71
Inner Engineering Online (IEO) is a web based intervention administered by the Isha Foundation, a not-for-profit, global, volunteer-based organization.The Inner engineering online program is a holistic tool for promoting well-being that teaches individuals how to mindfully and effectively respond to daily stressors using yogic sciences. The program offers guided meditation and yoga practices to promote harmonizing mind-body-emotion, and energy of the individual while simultaneously promoting mindfulness, joy, and vitality. It includes seven modules of 90 minutes each, discussing meditations \& yoga.
Reading a book regularly promotes knowledge enhancement, reduces stress and enhances memory among other benefits. For the purpose of this study, we advocate reading any book/ journal of participants choice routinely.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Maslach Burnout Inventory Scale General Survey
The study aims to evaluate changes in burnout levels affected by intervention using the Maslach Burnout Inventory scale General Survey (MBI\_GS). This survey consists of 16 questions and designed for use with occupational groups other than human services and education, including those working in jobs such as customer service, maintenance, manufacturing, management, and most other professions.Sum of 16 items is reported for each study period. With possible range of total score between 0-80, a higher score indicates more burnout or worse score addressing their experience of burnout.
Time frame: For Phase 1 analysis:Baseline to 4 weeks. For Phase 2 analysis: Baseline to 8 weeks
Perceived Stress Score Levels
The study aims to evaluate changes in perceived levels of stress in survey participants and the effect Inner Engineering Online has over them. We use a validated scale for this purpose named, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The scale measures the degree to which situations in participant's life are appraised as stressful. This is the key secondary outcome for our study. We assess for change in perceived stress levels by analyzing the PSS score for each participant and comparing it to pre \& post intervention results. PSS is a 10 question validated instrument that assesses stress. Participants are asked to rate on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (very often) how often they agree with various statements. Items from each of the 10 questions are then summed to create a total perceived stress score, ranging of 0 to 40. The lower score indicates less stress, higher score indicates high perceived stress.
Time frame: For Phase 1 analysis:Baseline to 4 weeks. For Phase 2 analysis: Baseline to 8 weeks
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