Intervene to reduce burnout
Legend for the strength of the effects:
none | weak | average | strong
Nota Bene: The striped dots show a decrease in the effects of the intervention over time or depending on the research design used.
Catalog of interventions to reduce burnout
| Intervention types | Study population | Scientific proof | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| MESO | Practices related to work organization conditions. | ||
| Social support from colleagues | School teachers |  | Iancu et al. (2018) |
| Social support from colleagues | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Clinical supervision | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Arrangement of working hours | Medical intern | | Bes et al. (2023) |
| Team communication | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Workload control | Nurses and physicians |  | Bes et al. (2023) |
| Work reorganisation/restructuring | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Development of interpersonal skills | Health workers, mixed occupations, counsellors, social workers, students, self-employed, athletes, kindergarten managers | | Maricuţoiu et al. (2016) |
| Development of knowledge and work-related skills | Health workers, mixed occupations, counsellors, social workers, students, self-employed, athletes, kindergarten managers | | Maricuţoiu et al. (2016) |
| Direct employee participation | Nurses, physicians, healthcare workers and logistics employees | | Bes et al. (2023) |
| MICRO | Practices target the individual. | ||
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | School teachers | | Iancu et al. (2018) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Health professionals |  | Ruotsalainen et al. (2015) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Nurses | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Health workers, mixed occupations, counsellors, social workers, students, self-employed, athletes, kindergarten managers | | Maricuţoiu et al. (2016) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Self-employed workers off work | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Public sector, education, health, social services and other employees | | Cores et al. (2021) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy | Physiotherapists | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Acceptance and commitment therapy | Workers in mental health and intellectual disability | | Reeve, Tickle et al. 2018 |
| Acceptance and commitment therapy (group based) | Health professionals |  | Prudenzi et al. (2021) |
| Rational emotive therapy | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Stress management training | Professors and physicians | | De Jesus et al (2014) |
| Stress management training | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Stress management training | Nurses | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Stress management training | Self-employed workers off work | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Stress management training | Physiotherapists | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Skills development and claims management training | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKCM) | Various employees | | Wang et al. (2023) |
| Mindfulness | Physicians (regardless of career stage or workplace) | | Fendel et al. (2021) |
| Mindfulness meditation | School teachers | | Iancu et al. (2018) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Professors, nurses and health staff in pediatric oncology | | Bartlett et al. (2019) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health professionals, call center employees, university employees, insurance company employees, manufacturing workers, social workers, laboratory technicians, administrative staff and civil servants | | Lomas et al. (2019) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health professionals | | Lomas al. (2019b) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health professionals | | Spinelli et al. (2019) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Nurses | | Suleiman-Martos et al. (2020) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Various occupations: healthcare, call centers, teaching, law enforcement, industry mixed occupations. | | Vonderlin et al. (2020) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Nurses | | Ramachandran et al. (2022) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Junior doctors | | Sekhar et al. (2021) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Various employees | | Michaelsen et al. (2023) |
| Contemplative interventions (mindfulness, meditation, acceptance and commitment therapy or combined therapies) | Adult employees from various occupations | | Slemp et al. (2019) |
| Relaxation | Employees in the public sector, education, health, social services, business support and others | | Cores et al. (2021) |
| Relaxation | Health professionals | | Ruotsalainen et al. (2015) |
| Relaxation and meditation | Health workers, mixed occupations, counsellors, social workers, students, self-employed, athletes, kindergarten managers | | Maricuţoiu et al. (2016) |
| E-mental health | Call center employees, banks employees, research center employees, university employees, security company staff, various professions in services, social and health workers, IT staff | | Phillips et al. 2019 |
| Brain waves | Mental health workers | | Dreison et al. (2018) |
| Qigong | Nurses | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Qigong | Self-employed workers off work | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Qigong | Physiotherapists | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Cognitive adaptation | Nurses | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Cognitive adaptation | Self-employed workers off work | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Cognitive adaptation | Physiotherapists | | Ahola et al. (2017) |
| Psycho-educational approach to burnout and stress in the field of education | School teachers | | Iancu et al. (2018) |
We conducted a systematic review of meta-analyses of workplace interventions aimed at reducing burnout. Our search focused on studies published since January 2000 in several bibliographic databases including Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Embase, Medline, PsycInfo, Pubmed, Web of Science, CINAHL and Business Source Premier and CINAHL plus (EBSCO). We used terms and keywords related to burnout (eg burnout, mental health) and workplace interventions (eg health promotion, intervention, prevention, work and employment). Searches were limited to peer-reviewed English and French meta-analyses. In order to be eligible, studies included in meta-analyzes had to assess burnout using a validated measure such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and use randomized controlled trials. After extracting the duplicates, we identified a total of 2,470 references of which 197 were classified as potential. In the final analysis, 23 studies were deemed eligible, including the last update in February 2024.
List of studies included:
- Ahola, K., Toppinen-Tanner, S., & Seppänen, J. (2017). Interventions to alleviate burnout symptoms and to support return to work among employees with burnout: Systematic review and meta-analysis, Burnout Research, 4, 1-11.
- Bartlett, L., Martin, A., Neil, A. L., Memish, K., Otahal, P., Kilpatrick, M., & Sanderson, K. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of workplace mindfulness training randomized controlled trials. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 108-126.
- Bes, I., Shoman, Y., Al-Gobari, M. et al. (2023) Organizational interventions and occupational burnout: a meta-analysis with focus on exhaustion. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 96(9), 1211–1223.
- Cores, S.E., Sayed, A. A., Tracy, D. K., & Kempton, M. J. (2021). Individual-focused occupational health interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 26(3), 189-203
- de Jesus, S. N., Miguel-Tobal, J. J., Rus, C. L., Viseu, J., & Gamboa, V. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of a stress management training on teachers and physicians’ stress related outcomes. Clínica y Salud, 25(2), 111-115.
- Dreison, K. C., Luther, L., Bonfils, K. A., Sliter, M. T., McGrew, J. H., & Salyers, M. P. (2018). Job burnout in mental health providers: A meta-analysis of 35 years of intervention research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 18-30.
- Fendel, J. C., Bürkle, J. J., & Göritz, A. S. (2020). Mindfulness-based interventions to reduce burnout and stress in physicians: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Academic Medicine, 96(5), 751-764.
- Iancu, A.E., Rusu, A., Măroiu, C. et al. (2018). The Effectiveness of Interventions Aimed at Reducing Teacher Burnout: a Meta-Analysis. Educ Psychol Rev 30: 373.
- Lomas, T., Medina, J.C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S. & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2019) Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review and meta-analysis of their impact upon wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(5), 625-640.
- Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2019b). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on the well-being of healthcare professionals. Mindfulness, 10(7), 1193-1216.
- Maricuţoiu, L. P., Sava, F. A., & Butta, O. (2016). The effectiveness of controlled interventions on employees’ burnout: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(1), 1-27.
- Michaelsen, M.M., Graser, J., Onescheit, M. et al. (2023) Mindfulness-Based and Mindfulness-Informed Interventions at the Workplace: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of RCTs. Mindfulness 14, 1271–1304.
- Phillips, E.A., Gordeev, V.S. & Schreyögg, J. (2019) Effectiveness of occupational e-mental health interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scand J Work Environ Health, 45(6), 560-576.
- Prudenzi, A., Graham, C.D., Clancy, F., Hill, D., O'Driscoll, R., Day, F., et O'Connor, D.B. (2021). Group-based acceptance and commitment therapy interventions for improving general distress and work-related distress in healthcare professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 295, 192-202.
- Ramachandran, H.J., Bin Mahmud, M.S., Rajendran, P., Jiang, Y., Cheng, L., et Wang, W. (2022). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on psychological well-being, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Nurs. 2022 Feb 20 Epub ahead of print.
- Reeve, A., Tickle, A. & Moghaddam, N. (2018) Are acceptance and commitment therapy-based interventions effective for reducing burnout in direct-care staff? A systematic review and meta-analysis, Mental Health Review Journal, 23(3) 131-155.
- Ruotsalainen JH, Verbeek JH, Mariné A, Serra C. (2015). Preventing occupational stress in healthcare workers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD002892.
- Sekhar, P., Tee, Q.X., Ashraf, G., Trinh, D., Shachar, J., Jiang, A., . . . Turner, T. (2021). Mindfulness-based psychological interventions for improving mental well-being in medical students and junior doctors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2021(12), CD013740.
- Slemp, G. R., Jach, H. K., Chia, A., Loton, D. J., & Kern, M. L. (2019). Contemplative interventions and employee distress: A meta‐analysis. Stress and Health: Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 35(3), 227-255.
- Spinelli, C., Wisener, M., & Khoury, B. (2019). Mindfulness training for healthcare professionals and trainees: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 120, 29-38.
- Suleiman-Martos, N., Gomez-Urquiza, J. L., Aguayo-Estremera, R., Canadas-De La Fuente, G. A., De La Fuente-Solana, E. I., & Albendin-Garcia, L. (2020). The effect of mindfulness training on burnout syndrome in nursing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of advanced nursing, 76(5), 1124-1140.
- Vonderlin, R., Biermann, M., Bohus, M., & Lyssenko, L. (2020). Mindfulness-based programs in the workplace: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Mindfulness, 11(7), 1579-1598.
- Wang, R., Gu, X., Zhang, Y., Luo, K., & Zeng, X. (2024). Loving-kindness and compassion meditations in the workplace: A meta-analysis and future prospects. Stress and Health, 40(1), e3273.
This content has been updated on 19 February 2024 at 17h10.