The Effects of Dog Therapy on Ambulance Staff Burnout Scores.

NCT05438745 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: YASRD170
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 20
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Problem During the COVID 19 pandemic, NHS staff have become increasingly burned out. Mental health is the leading cause of staff sickness and absence in the NHS. Ambulance trusts have the highest rates of sickness across all NHS professions. Reduced staffing levels directly impacts service delivery. Staff struggling with poor mental health are more likely to make errors, have reduced empathy, and patients have lower patient satisfaction. The Solution? Dog therapy is used in hospital settings around the world for patient benefit and staff welfare. Evidence suggests dog therapy improves mood and reduces anxiety. Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has a small, but established dog therapy scheme, organised by the health and wellbeing team. This research aims to observe if dog therapy affects symptoms of burnout in YAS staff. We will use two sets of staff: Patient facing staff Staff with remote patient contact What will participants need to do? Participants will be given a Copenhagen Burnout Inventory - a questionnaire focusing on three factors: Personal burnout Work related burnout Client related burnout Burnout will be measured in 4 categories; no/low, moderate, high and severe burnout. The questionnaire will be completed at the beginning and end of 8 weeks of dog therapy.

• Some optional demographic questions
• Number of sessions attended
• Engagement with occupational health services
• Dog Ownership We will calculate the difference in severity of burnout between baseline and after 8 weeks of dog therapy. A PPI group has been consulted on methodology, wording of plain English summary and the dissemination plan. This research will be distributed to all interested participants, published in an appropriate journal presented at conferences, and presented in the ICA dissemination event.

Conditions

Burn Out; EMS Exposures or Injuries of EMS Personnel

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Mean difference in change of each section of Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) Score

  CBI will be measured at week 0 and week 8. The CBI is composed of 3 sections. We will calculate a mean change in score for each of the 3 sections.

  8 weeks.

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Mean difference ambulance turnaround times.

  8 weeks.

• Drop out rate.

  8 weeks.

Study Arms (1)

Experimental Group

Ambulance Service Staff participating in pet therapy sessions.

Other: Copenhagen Burnout Inventry

Interventions

Copenhagen Burnout Inventry OTHER

Questionnaire

Experimental Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 68 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Convenience sample of patient facing staff who are participating in Yorkshire Ambulance Service pet therapy scheme.

You may qualify if:

• Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) Employee with patient contact. Patient contact includes face to face to face or remote patient contact. Taking part in YAS dog therapy scheme. Completed no more than 2 dog therapy sessions to date. -

You may not qualify if:

• Staff with no patient contact as part of their role. Staff on bank contract

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust: lead
• National Institute for Health Research, United Kingdom: collaborator

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Psychological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Richard Pilbery, MSc

  Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Richard Pilbery, MSc

CONTACT

+44‭07592269779‬; r.pilbery@nhs.net

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 24, 2022
• First Posted: June 30, 2022
• Study Start: August 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2022
• Study Completion: September 30, 2022
• Last Updated: June 30, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-06