Digital Intervention to Promote Medical Trainee Well-being (OptimalWork Pilot)

NCT06914843 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 202208152
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 35
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This project aims to address stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression among medical trainees using a web-based intervention that teaches cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based skills to increase resilience. The intervention is a web application ("OptimalWork", optimalwork.com) that includes a "MasterClass" consisting of about 20 interactive modules to be completed over four weeks (five days/week, 15-25 minutes/day). These modules teach principles and skills of CBT in an interactive manner and give tailored recommendations for how to apply and develop these skills in one's work and personal life. Participants who enroll in the study will be randomly assigned to either the MasterClass intervention or an active control (podcast listening) condition, and the control group will be given access to the MasterClass after 8 weeks. Measurements of well-being at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks will be compared between the groups as the primary outcome. Participant engagement as measured by MasterClass module completion and qualitative feedback will also be collected to guide future efforts at large-scale implementation in medical trainees and healthcare workers.

Conditions

Mental Health Wellness 1

Keywords

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Digital Mental Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Human Flourishing Index

  Broad well-being based around 5 domains of happiness, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships.

  8 weeks

• OptimalWork Inventory

  24-item survey designed to measure how well one is engaging challenges in one's work and personal life

  8 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Stress - BIPS

  8 weeks

• Burnout and professional fulfillment

  8 weeks

• Anxiety - PROMIS

  8 weeks

• Depression - PROMIS

  8 weeks

Study Arms (2)

OptimalWork

EXPERIMENTAL

An online intervention that teaches concepts of cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and behavioral activation as they apply in one's daily life and work. Users are given personalized content recommendations based on their inventory results and instructed to complete 15-25 minutes of content per day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks.

Behavioral: OptimalWork

Podcast Listening

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

A curated series of podcasts on topics unrelated to cognitive behavioral therapy or mindfulness, modeled after a similar control from a study of a mindfulness based intervention (Basso et al. 2019). Users are instructed to complete one podcast per day on a digital platform (\~15 minutes/day), 5 days/week for 4 weeks.

Behavioral: Podcast Listening

Interventions

OptimalWork BEHAVIORAL

An online intervention that teaches concepts of cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and behavioral activation as they apply in one's daily life and work. Users are given personalized content recommendations based on their inventory results and instructed to complete 15-25 minutes of content per day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. (optimalwork.com)

OptimalWork

Podcast Listening BEHAVIORAL

A curated series of podcasts on topics unrelated to cognitive behavioral therapy or mindfulness, modeled after a similar control from a study of a mindfulness based intervention (Basso et al. 2019). Users are instructed to complete one podcast per day on a digital platform (\~15 minutes/day), 5 days/week for 4 weeks.

Podcast Listening

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Current or incoming WashU School of Medicine Student

You may not qualify if:

• Currently participating in another behavioral health / well-being intervention
• Unwilling or unable to provide informed consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Washington University School of Medicine: lead

Study Sites (1)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

St Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Ginger E. Nicol, MD

  Washington University School of Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: QUADRUPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Participants are randomized using a digital data management platform (REDCap) and investigators and analysts remain blinded to participant identifiers.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Child)

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2024
• First Posted: April 6, 2025
• Study Start: September 6, 2023
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2024
• Study Completion: December 31, 2024
• Last Updated: April 6, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)