Desenvolvimento e aplicação de um programa baseado em Mindfulness com médicos residentes do HUPE/UERJ para gerenciamento do estresse

Abstract

The hospital environment, in general, poses challenges for the emotional regulation of healthcare professionals and students. The decision-making situations that affect lives, combined with long working hours, push these professionals to their limits, risking their mental health. Literature confirms that mindfulness-based interventions present themselves as an effective alternative in stress reduction. This work will explore the hypothesis that they can be adapted to the lifestyle of healthcare professionals since they can be performed at any time and do not require specific instruments. With the aim of exploring the idea of effectiveness of MBIs for stress management, specifically among healthcare professionals, two studies were conducted: in the first one, a systematic literature review focusing on evaluating the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions with professionals and students in healthcare fields was conducted. The results indicate greater emotional regulation and decrease in perceived stress levels when this type of intervention is used among various healthcare professionals and students, although there is little evidence regarding the effectiveness of MBIs in reducing stress among resident physicians. The literature points to several reasons for the prevalence of stress among physicians, especially resident physicians. In order to investigate whether mindfulness practice would help reduce stress levels in this population, a second study was conducted. The objective was the development and implementation of a group program for resident physicians, online and free, based on mindfulness, for managing the stress of these participants. Eleven volunteer physicians were randomly divided into two groups: test (n=6) and comparison (n=5). The intervention for the test group consisted of an eight-week program with weekly mindfulness sessions, while the comparison group participated in discussions on general topics related to the medical career, also in eight sessions. Data were collected before and after the intervention, including assessments of quality of life, stress, anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction. This research aimed to identify whether mindfulness-based intervention could bring about, to some extent, a decrease in stress among resident physicians. The results suggest that the intervention not only promotes the reduction of stress among resident physicians but also improves patient care when compared to the comparison group, highlighting important implications for clinical practice and future research.