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Introduction: Burnout poses a substantial, ongoing threat to healthcare worker (HCW) wellbeing and to the delivery of safe, quality healthcare. While systemic and organization-level changes in healthcare are critically important, HCWs also need individual-level skills to promote resilience. The objective of this trial is to test feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of PARK, an online self-guided positive affect regulation intervention, in a sample of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: In the context of the unprecedented rise in burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a randomized waitlist-controlled trial of the Positive Affect Regulation sKills (PARK) program—a five-week, online, self-guided coping skills intervention nested within an ongoing cohort of HCWs. N = 554 healthcare workers were randomly assigned to receive the intervention immediately or to receive the intervention after approximately 12 weeks. Outcomes included change in burnout, emotional wellbeing (positive affect, meaning and purpose, depression, anxiety) and sleep over approximately 12 weeks. Analyses included mixed-effects linear regression models comparing change over time in outcomes between intervention and control conditions. Results: One third (n = 554) of the participants in the cohort of HCWs consented to participate and enrolled in PARK in April 2022. Compared to those who did not enroll, participants in the trial reported higher burnout, poorer emotional wellbeing, and poorer sleep at baseline (April, 2022; all ps <.05). Intent-to-treat analyses showed that participants randomly assigned to the intervention immediately (PARK-Now) improved significantly on anxiety (within-group change on PROMIS T-score = -0.63; p =.003) whereas those in the waitlist (PARK-Later) did not (within group T-score change 0.04, p = 0.90). The between-group difference in change, however, was not statistically significant (B = -0.67 p = 0.10). None of the other wellbeing outcomes changed significantly in the intervention group compared to the waitlist. Additional as-treated analyses indicated that those participants who completed all 5 of the weekly online lessons (N = 52; 9.4%) improved significantly more on the primary outcome of positive affect compared to those who enrolled in PARK but completed zero lessons (n = 237; 42.8%; B = 2.85; p =.0001). Conclusions: Online self-guided coping skills interventions like PARK can be effective in targeted samples and future work will focus on adaptations to increase engagement and tailor PARK for HCWs who could most benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women living with HIV (WLWH) experience high rates of depression but are underrepresented in mental health research. Positive emotions are associated with beneficial health outcomes in WLWH and should be a targeted component of psychological interventions in this population. Positive psychological interventions aim to increase positive emotions through the use of simple exercises, such as keeping a gratitude journal. We conducted a single-arm feasibility/acceptability study of a five-week, self-guided, web-based positive affect skills intervention in a sample of WLWH (N = 23) who also participate in a longitudinal observational study, the Women's Interagency HIV Study. The intervention was feasible as measured by home practice and post-intervention assessment completion, and acceptable as measured by exit interview feedback regarding recommendation of the program to friends or others living with HIV. On average, participants completed home practice for about 8 out of 9 skills. The mean response for recommendation of the program to a friend was 9.26/10 (SD = 1.63) and the mean response for recommendation of the program to others living with HIV was 9.68/10 (SD = 0.82). Participant feedback will be used to adapt and enhance the delivery of this intervention. Further studies are needed to assess efficacy and impact on psychological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Positive psychology (PP) uses targeted activities to increase the frequency and intensity of positive feelings and may improve overall well-being in medically ill populations. In this phase 1 randomized controlled trial, we examined the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a 5-week, telephone-delivered PP intervention for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Participants were randomized 1:1 to a 5-week at-home PP intervention or a waitlist control condition. Participants engaged in weekly telephone calls with a study trainer and completed one PP exercise, such as recalling a past success, each week. Feasibility was determined by the number of sessions completed, and acceptability was assessed by weekly postexercise participant ratings of ease and utility. Efficacy was explored by examining between-group differences in changes from baseline on psychological variables, health-related quality of life, and self-reported functional activities at 5 and 10 weeks. Results: Of 30 patients enrolled in the study, 28 (93%) completed all exercises. Ease scores ranged from 7.7 to 8.7 of 10 and utility scores ranged from 8.2 to 8.7 of 10. The PP intervention was associated with significantly greater increases (P < .05) in positive affect, optimism, state and trait anxiety, general health, and resilience in the intervention group versus the control group. Approximately half of the PP participants maintained at least 50% of the improvement at 10 weeks. Conclusions: This 5-week, telephone-based PP intervention was feasible and acceptable to individuals with MS. Larger randomized controlled trials are warranted to further investigate the utility of this intervention to improve well-being and other health outcomes in MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy eating is key to successful management of type 2 diabetes (T2D). As discussed in this narrative review, there are strong indications that spousal support is an important element affecting dietary adherence in T2D. To provide a synthesized review of this evidence, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched, 28 relevant studies were selected, and the results were narratively summarized. A framework for information synthesis was developed which categorized results into three major themes: how gender roles and spousal dynamics function in spousal support for dietary adherence, the role of race and ethnicity in the influence of spousal support on dietary adherence, and the extant interventional work specifically targeting spousal support for T2D. The reviewed studies indicate that gender role performance is the principal factor in the relationship between spousal support and dietary adherence in T2D, though race and ethnicity also contribute. Despite this evidence, interventions that specifically target spousal support to improve dietary adherence in T2D have had limited efficacy. A better understanding of the relationship between spousal support and dietary adherence, as well as a subsequent utilization of this information to create targeted and effective interventions, would be of great benefit to the field of diabetes management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]