A Powerful Antidote to Physician Burnout: Intensive Healthy Lifestyle and Positive Psychology Approaches

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Burnout rates among physicians are rapidly rising. Leaders in the movement to address burnout have made the case that health care workplaces need to foster a culture of well-being, including trusting coworker interactions, collaborative and transparent leadership, work-life balance, flexibility, opportunities for meaningful work and for professional development, and effective 2-way communication. The rationale for focusing on organizational change to prevent burnout has pointed to persistent symptoms of burnout even when individual healthy lifestyle interventions are adopted. However, a case can be made that the lifestyle interventions were not implemented at the level of intensity recommended by the lifestyle medicine evidence-base to secure the desired improvement in physical and mental health when facing significant personal and environmental stressors. The lifestyle medicine community has the ethical mandate to advocate for intensive healthy lifestyle approaches to burnout prevention, in conjunction with organizational supports. By combining comprehensive and intensive lifestyle changes with organizational cultures of well-being, we can more effectively turn the tide of physician burnout.

Related collections

Most cited references 21

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions

C P West, L Dyrbye, T. D. Shanafelt (2018)

Physician burnout, a work-related syndrome involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment, is prevalent internationally. Rates of burnout symptoms that have been associated with adverse effects on patients, the healthcare workforce, costs and physician health exceed 50% in studies of both physicians-in-training and practicing physicians. This problem represents a public health crisis with negative impacts on individual physicians, patients and healthcare organizations and systems. Drivers of this epidemic are largely rooted within healthcare organizations and systems and include excessive workloads, inefficient work processes, clerical burdens, work-home conflicts, lack of input or control for physicians with respect to issues affecting their work lives, organizational support structures and leadership culture. Individual physician-level factors also play a role, with higher rates of burnout commonly reported in female and younger physicians. Effective solutions align with these drivers. For example, organizational efforts such as locally developed practice modifications and increased support for clinical work have demonstrated benefits in reducing burnout. Individually focused solutions such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and small-group programmes to promote community, connectedness and meaning have also been shown to be effective. Regardless of the specific approach taken, the problem of physician burnout is best addressed when viewed as a shared responsibility of both healthcare systems and individual physicians. Although our understanding of physician burnout has advanced considerably in recent years, many gaps in our knowledge remain. Longitudinal studies of burnout's effects and the impact of interventions on both burnout and its effects are needed, as are studies of effective solutions implemented in combination. For medicine to fulfil its mission for patients and for public health, all stakeholders in healthcare delivery must work together to develop and implement effective remedies for physician burnout.

0 comments Cited 566 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Executive Leadership and Physician Well-being: Nine Organizational Strategies to Promote Engagement and Reduce Burnout.

Tait Shanafelt, John H Noseworthy (2017)

These are challenging times for health care executives. The health care field is experiencing unprecedented changes that threaten the survival of many health care organizations. To successfully navigate these challenges, health care executives need committed and productive physicians working in collaboration with organization leaders. Unfortunately, national studies suggest that at least 50% of US physicians are experiencing professional burnout, indicating that most executives face this challenge with a disillusioned physician workforce. Burnout is a syndrome characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness. Physician burnout has been shown to influence quality of care, patient safety, physician turnover, and patient satisfaction. Although burnout is a system issue, most institutions operate under the erroneous framework that burnout and professional satisfaction are solely the responsibility of the individual physician. Engagement is the positive antithesis of burnout and is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption in work. There is a strong business case for organizations to invest in efforts to reduce physician burnout and promote engagement. Herein, we summarize 9 organizational strategies to promote physician engagement and describe how we have operationalized some of these approaches at Mayo Clinic. Our experience demonstrates that deliberate, sustained, and comprehensive efforts by the organization to reduce burnout and promote engagement can make a difference. Many effective interventions are relatively inexpensive, and small investments can have a large impact. Leadership and sustained attention from the highest level of the organization are the keys to making progress.

0 comments Cited 298 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

A review of lifestyle factors that contribute to important pathways associated with major depression: diet, sleep and exercise.

Elizabeth Hood, D. Drummond, A Lopresti (2013)

Research on major depression has confirmed that it is caused by an array of biopsychosocial and lifestyle factors. Diet, exercise and sleep are three such influences that play a significant mediating role in the development, progression and treatment of this condition. This review summarises animal- and human-based studies on the relationship between these three lifestyle factors and major depressive disorder, and their influence on dysregulated pathways associated with depression: namely neurotransmitter processes, immuno-inflammatory pathways, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis disturbances, oxidative stress and antioxidant defence systems, neuroprogression, and mitochondrial disturbances. Increased attention in future clinical studies on the influence of diet, sleep and exercise on major depressive disorder and investigations of their effect on physiological processes will help to expand our understanding and treatment of major depressive disorder. Mental health interventions, taking into account the bidirectional relationship between these lifestyle factors and major depression are also likely to enhance the efficacy of interventions associated with this disorder. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 206 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Title: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine

Abbreviated Title: American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine

Publisher: SAGE Publications

ISSN (Print): 1559-8276

ISSN (Electronic): 1559-8284

Publication date Created: September 2021

Publication date (Electronic): April 21 2021

Publication date (Print): September 2021

Volume: 15

Issue: 5

Pages: 563-566

Affiliations

[1 ]Global Positive Health Institute, Sacramento, CA

Article

DOI: 10.1177/15598276211006626

PubMed ID: 34646108

SO-VID: 96af3471-cf7f-485d-99de-06a6a88ff7d6

License:

http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license

History

Data availability:

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 7

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 231

See all reference authors

A Powerful Antidote to Physician Burnout: Intensive Healthy Lifestyle and Positive Psychology Approaches

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Hogrefe Psychology

Most cited references 21

Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions

Executive Leadership and Physician Well-being: Nine Organizational Strategies to Promote Engagement and Reduce Burnout.

A review of lifestyle factors that contribute to important pathways associated with major depression: diet, sleep and exercise.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 124

Cited by 7

Most referenced authors 231