Digital Coaching to Address Health, Wellness, and Burnout Among Healthcare Workers: Pilot Study Results

Healthcare worker (HCW) well-being is essential for safe, high-quality patient care, but clinicians and front-line staff continue to experience alarming rates of burnout. This pilot study evaluated a novel 6-week program of remote wellness coaching supported by daily digital messaging to reduce burnout and increase well-being among HCWs.

In spring 2023, staff from a large community health center in California were invited to participate in this single-group pretest-posttest study in an academic-practice partnership. Thirty-four participants who were mostly female (91%), Latina (77%), 36 years old on average (range = 20-61), and represented all major job categories provided informed consent and completed the baseline survey. Of these, 17 completed 6 weekly 20-minute coaching sessions; received daily messages about stress management, self-care, workplace well-being, social connections, and lifestyle and health behaviors, and completed follow-up data collection. The Wilcoxon matched pair signed-rank tests assessed changes from baseline to 2-months follow-up.

Self-reported burnout decreased from 59% at baseline to 35% at follow-up. Work exhaustion (p < .05), stress (p < .05) and sleep problems (p < .01) reduced significantly, and wellness practices (p < .05), moderate physical activity (p < .01), and healthy daily eating (p < .05) improved.Conclusions/Applications to Practice:Our pilot study suggests that a brief digital wellness program may address burnout and increase health and well-being among front-line staff and clinicians. Healthcare settings should consider this type of program for their workers, especially given the added burden of COVID-19 on the healthcare system.