NCT04631302

The Work Engagement and Wellbeing Study

Work Engagement and Well-being Study (SWELL): A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial Evaluating the Effects of Mindfulness Versus Light Physical Exercise at Work

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 241 (actual)
• Sponsor: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit · Other Government
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Mindfulness and exercise are both widely used to improve mental health and well-being. Some people find that these activities also improve their ability to focus. This study aims to find out whether mindfulness and light exercise could be similarly effective in improving mental wellbeing and engagement at work. The study further investigates the cognitive processes (e.g., memory and attention skills) that might improve as a result of mindfulness and exercise.

Detailed description

Mental illness is a major cause of disability worldwide\[1\]. Much of the adult population is employed and spends 28% of their waking hours doing paid work\[2,3\]. The occupational environment is therefore an opportune location for preventative mental health interventions. A growing number of employers provide programmes to improve well-being and work performance. Mindfulness is typically defined as "the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment". Practising such awareness has been linked to reduction in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress in community populations. There is also evidence that mindfulness could improve life satisfaction, overall well-being, and quality of life. It has also been argued that mindfulness may yield workplace benefits beyond well-being. Mindfulness has been suggested to improve work performance, reduce the negative effects of multitasking, and enhance self-regulation of thoughts, emotions and behaviours. Empirical evidence to support these suggestions, however, is scarce. Furthermore, the mechanisms through which mindfulness impacts work performance are not clear. Understanding mechanisms of change (a) would help to design better, more targeted interventions, (b) would improve our attempts to assess MBPs via selection of more stringent control interventions and (c) may promote a personalised medicine approach by informing understanding of what works for whom and in which context. Current literature suggests that MBPs could improve work performance through increased mental well-being and/or cognitive control over emotional material. A definitive randomised controlled trial is needed to evaluate these potential mechanisms. However, methodological uncertainties need clarification to inform the design of such a trial. We aim to conduct a feasibility trial to clarify these uncertainties and complete a preliminary investigation of the relationships between mindfulness training, workplace performance and the proposed mechanisms of action: mental well-being and cognitive control. This feasibility trial will: 1. Estimate the between-groups effect size for the effect of mindfulness, relative to a light exercise control condition, on our primary outcome of work performance, in order to inform power calculation for a larger trial; 2. Explore whether improved cognitive control and/or enhanced mental health could be potential mechanisms underlying the effect of mindfulness on work performance; 3. Determine procedural feasibility of a later stage trial by evaluating the willingness of the participants to be randomised and other practical implications of running a randomised controlled trial;

Conditions

• Mindfulness
• Exercise

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Be Mindful	Be mindful is an online course run by the Mental Health Foundation and Wellmind Media. It was developed together with British mindfulness instructors and offers access to its course materials and instructional videos through a website (http://www.bemindfulonline.com). The course consists of 11 sessions led by two mindfulness teachers, one female, one male. Using a variety of media (videos, assignments, audio tracks and e-mails), participants are taught to use formal as well as informal mindfulness techniques. The course lasts 4 weeks. For each week, participants are asked to do a daily formal mediation practice (up to 30 minutes but it varies from week to week) and one or two informal exercises.
BEHAVIORAL	Light exercise course	The control condition involves light physical exercises aimed at increasing mobility, reducing stiffness, improving circulation, and avoiding pain or repetitive strain injuries that may result from sedentary or repetitive tasks common in office environments. The exercises will include simple whole-body slightly aerobic exercises such as rotation of limbs and stretching. The course was developed by Dr Julieta Galante, a public health doctor, together with an expert in body posture re-education and body techniques. The course is designed to match with the mindfulness intervention condition in duration and media (length of videos, amount of written instructions). It also replicates the encouraged use of short breaks (of seconds or minutes) throughout the workday to focus on wellbeing, as occurs in mindfulness.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-02-23
• Primary completion: 2022-03-23
• Completion: 2023-03-31
• First posted: 2020-11-17
• Last updated: 2023-11-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom