Comic Relief: Graphic Medicine as Care for Caregivers

NCT07207265 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: Comic Relief: Graphic MedicineU54MD013368-05
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 13
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Community care workers have been stretched to their capacity and exposed to ongoing trauma through their work addressing persistent health disparities in Inland Empire communities. The coronavirus pandemic and gap in Covid-19 mortality for minorities have highlighted the chronic stressors of racial injustice and dispossession that predate the pandemic and explain why these populations have higher comorbidities. While the pandemic has exacerbated ongoing stressors, the map of this crisis of care may show the way to deeper solutions. The premise of this project is that care occurs in a continuum of caretakers who also require care. The proposal seeks to address and complicate the question: who cares for the caregivers? This study will interrogate the benefits of providing a comics-making workshop, combined with trauma education and somatic experiencing, as a set of resiliency tools for care providers working with traumatized populations.

Conditions

Mental Wellbeing

Keywords

comics; art workshops; trauma; compassion fatigue; burnout

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Skovholt Practitioner Professional Resiliency and Self-Care Inventory

  Skovholt Practitioner Professional Resiliency and Self-Care Inventory (Skovholt, 2010). * sub-scale professional vitality (range - 8-40) * sub-scale personal vitality (range - 11-55) * sub-scale professional stress (range - 9-45) * sub-scale personal stress. (range - 10-50) While there is no "optimal" score, higher scores on these scales indicate better outcomes or better ability to navigate stress.

  1 art workshop per week for 7 weeks

• ProQOL: Professional Quality of Life

  ProQOL: Professional Quality of Life Screening (Stamm, 1997-2008) * Compassion satisfaction is about the pleasure you derive from being able to do your work well. (avg score = 37) * Burnout is associated with feelings of hopelessness and difficulties in dealing with work or in doing your job effectively. (avg score = 22) * Compassion fatigue, also called secondary trauma and related to Vicarious Trauma, is about your work-related, secondary exposure to extremely stressful events.(avg score = 13) Higher scores on the compassion scale are better; lower scores on burnout and compassion indicate better outcomes.

  1 workshop per week for 7 weeks

Study Arms (1)

Group intervention: weekly group sessions

Outcome measures: Skovholt Practitioner Professional Resiliency and Self-Care Inventory (Skovholt, 2010) ProQOL: Professional Quality of Life Screening (Stamm, 1997-2008)

Eligibility Criteria

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

Study Population

Community care workers have been stretched to their capacity and exposed to ongoing trauma through their work addressing persistent health disparities in Inland Empire communities. The study is open to anyone living in the Riverside area who works a caregiver, broadly construed. This may include people working in education, healthcare, and non-profits.

You may qualify if:

• years of age or more, Any care workers in the Inland Empire (Riverside or San Bernardino Counties) will be eligible to participate.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Riverside: lead
• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Riverside, California

Riverside, California, 92521, United States

Location

Related Links

• Graphic Medicine as Care for the Caregivers

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Wounds and Injuries; Compassion Fatigue; Burnout, Psychological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Fatigue; Fatigue; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Occupational Stress; Stress, Psychological

Study Officials

• Jennifer Syvertsen

  University of California, Riverside

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: OTHER
• Target Duration: 7 Weeks
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor Anthropology Department

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 26, 2025
• First Posted: October 3, 2025
• Study Start: November 14, 2023
• Primary Completion: April 12, 2024
• Study Completion: April 12, 2024
• Last Updated: October 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)