Effects of Zentangle art workplace health promotion activities on rural healthcare workers

Abstract

Objectives: Workplace health promotion activities have a positive effect on emotions. Zentangle art relaxes the body and mind through the process of concentrating while painting, achieving a healing effect. This study aimed to promote the physical and mental health of rural healthcare workers through Zentangle art-based intervention.

Study design: This was a quasi-experimental pilot study.

Methods: A Zentangle art workshop was held from November 2019 to July 2020. A total of 40 healthcare workers were recruited. The participants were asked to provide baseline data, and the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5), work stress management effectiveness self-rating scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and Workplace Spirituality Scale (WSS) were administered before and after the workshop. SPSS 22.0 statistical package software was used to conduct the data analysis.

Results: The median age (interquartile range [IQR]) was 32.00 years (23.00-41.75 years). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the median (IQR) BSRS-5 postintervention score was 4.0 (1.25-5.0), which was lower than the preintervention score (P = 0.004). The postintervention score for the work stress management effectiveness self-rating scale was 36.5 (31.0-40.0), which was also lower than the preintervention score (P = 0.009). A higher score for the GSES or WSS indicated improvements in stress management and self-efficacy. The GSES postintervention score 25.00 (21.0-30.75) was significantly higher than the preintervention score (P = 0.010), and the WSS postintervention score 104.0 (88.0-111.75) was significantly higher than the preintervention score (P = 0.005).

Conclusions: The study provides evidence that painting therapy can effectively relieve stress, reduce workplace stress and frustration, enhance self-efficacy, and increase commitment to work among healthcare workers, thus improving their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Zentangle art provides employees with multiple channels for expressing their emotions and can improve the physical and mental health of healthcare workers in the workplace. It is beneficial and cost-effective and can serve as a benchmark for peer learning.

Keywords: Psychological distress; Rural healthcare workers; Work-related stress; Workplace health promotion; Workplace spirituality; Zentangle art.