Jo Soldan is a Clinical Psychologist currently based in Cardiff but has an international background in mindfulness training and experience. Amongst her offerings, she delivers the Mindfulness-Based Resilience at Work course, which is an adaptation from MBSR for the workplace. It is designed for anyone who experiences stress in work. The course was initially developed and evaluated 15 years ago with healthcare staff in New Zealand, where Jo worked at the time. It is now widely offered in this context in Auckland and has more recently been delivered in Cardiff for healthcare staff and teachers.
Following the course, Jo offers ongoing practise sessions to support maintenance of mindfulness. From this, the groups of attendees have formed into cohesive supportive communities. This course creates a growing number of people in healthcare accessing mindfulness as a way of being with the stresses of working in the healthcare system.
An initial valuation of participants working in healthcare (43 staff in a range of roles) found that staff engagement in this resilience-building intervention was impressive, with 92.8% attendance at sessions; 95% reporting they benefitted; and some 70% still maintaining their practice when they were followed-up up to 2 years later. Results from paired-sample testing show a statistically significant reduction in the Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalisation subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale. They also show significant increases in resilience as measured by the Brief Resilience Scale.
100% attendees felt the course had impacted on them professionally. Comments included “more in control”, “less reactive” and “more present in stressful situations”. Thirty-six of thirty-eight (95%) respondents felt it had made positive change to their reactivity at work. Participants comments included: “more able to focus on the moment – I can do the work faster” and “singing again”. Their colleagues also reported noticing changes in participants: “Not taking negative feedback so personally.” Further, thirty-seven of thirty-eight (97%) felt there had been some or great positive change in their ability to handle stressful situations. For example, participants reported: “able to handle things differently, confident, better at making decisions, cope with stress better” and “I am much more relaxed and alert in dealing with stressful issues and concerns and people”. Their colleagues also noted that they were: “Not getting overwhelmed by stressful situations”, “much more present and confident”, “increased energy levels, not feeling down” and “less anxious and more positive about things”.
Jo’s hope is that she can continue to spread the benefits of this course by delivering it across more locations within Wales.
To see a video of this work within healthcare, please follow this link: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AipVLSHDV2pngmtSYRCmcKK5odtQ
For more information please contact: jo@josoldan.com
LinkedIn: jo soldan