Strengthening Health Literacy in Healthcare Workers Through Mind Body Medicine and Nutrition
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorUniversität Duisburg-Essen
About this trial
This is a randomized controlled trial aiming to develop and evaluate a workplace health program to improve stress resilience and mental well-being among healthcare workers at University Medicine Essen using a participatory research design (including a steering committee composed of hospital staff, needs assessment through focus groups, and pilot testing). The intervention combines mind-body medicine techniques, complementary medicine self-care strategies, and psycho-biotic nutrition. If successful, the program will be integrated into routine workplace health management and serve as a model for other healthcare institutions.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Age 18 years and older
Employees of University Medicine Essen
Moderate resilience of ≤ 144 points on the RS-25
Willingness to practice at home and keep a practice diary
Disqualifiers
Insufficient German language skills
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Severe comorbid mental disorders (e.g., substance use disorder, major depression) or other severe comorbid somatic diseases (e.g., oncological disease without remission, severe pre-existing cardiovascular disease, organ failure, other severe neurological disorders)
Planned or ongoing pension application (e.g., disability pension, occupational disability, reduced earning capacity, severe disability)
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
SOULFOOD Programme
BehavioralThis arm is a 10-week multimodal program designed to enhance resilience and health competencies. Participants engage in structured weekly intervention sessions lasting 2 hours and homework activities. These sessions are delivered in person, with flexible scheduling to accommodate work schedules. The intervention focuses on mind-body medicine, complementary medicine and nutrition. Core components include psycho-biotic nutrition, movement, relaxation techniques, and complementary self-care techniques. Each week covers a specific theme, such as mindful eating, emotional and stress regulation in the workplace, mindfulness, communication skills and social connections.
Treatment groups
252 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: SOULFOOD ProgrammeExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Waitlist Control GroupNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Stress Resilience
Measured with the Resilience Scale (RS-25), a 25-item self-report instrument assessing personal competence and acceptance of life on one sum scale. Higher scores indicate greater resilience.
Time frame
Week 10Secondary outcomes
1
Burnout
Assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), a 22-item scale measuring emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment (three subscales). Higher exhaustion and depersonalization scores with lower personal accomplishment scores indicate a higher risk of burnout.
Time frame
Week 102
Stress Coping
Measured using the "Coping" subscale of the Stress- und Coping-Inventory (SCI-COPE), a 20-item self-report scale assessing five coping strategies on five subscales: positive thinking, active coping, social support, religion, and substance use (four items each). Higher scores indicate better coping skills.
Time frame
Week 103
Stress Symptoms
Measured using the "Symptoms"-subscale of the Stress- und Coping-Inventory (SCI-SYMPT), a 13-item self-report scale assessing physical and psychological stress symptoms (e.g., sleep disturbances, concentration issues). Higher scores indicate greater symptom burden on one sum scale.
Time frame
Week 104
Physical Resilience
Assessed with the subscale "Physical Resilience" of the Questionnaire for Assessing Health Behavior (FEG). It consists of five items rated on a Likert scale (1 = does not apply at all to 5 = fully applies), covering aspects such as perceived robustness, recovery after illness, and endurance in stressful situations. The mean of all items is calculated, with higher mean values indicating greater resilience.
Time frame
Week 10Other outcomes
1
Mindfulness
Measured with the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), a 15-item self-report scale assessing everyday mindfulness. The mean of all items is calculated, with higher mean values indicating greater mindfulness in daily life.
Time frame
Baseline2
Subjective Workload
Assessed using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), where participants rate their perceived workload on a scale from 0 (no burden) to 10 (maximum burden).
Time frame
Baseline3
Ability to Change
The Perception, Intention and Ability to Change (PIAC) questionnaire is used to assess participants' perceived motivation and capability to initiate and implement health-related behavioral changes. It consists of nine items rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The items can be summarized to two subscales: perceptions and intentions regarding the need for change, and the perceived ability and implementation of behavioral changes. A total score is calculated by summing all items, with higher scores indicating a greater perceived internal ability to change.
Time frame
Baseline4
Dietary Behavior
Assessed with the sum and subscores of the Eating Behavior (SEV) questionnaire, which assesses participants' self-reported eating behaviors and consists of two subscales: Health-Conscious Eating Behavior (GB-EV) and Weight-Controlled Eating Behavior (GK-EV). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (does not apply at all) to 5 (applies exactly). Higher scores indicate a stronger tendency toward health-conscious or weight-controlled eating behavior.
Time frame
BaselineSponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov