Mindfulness training in healthcare professions: A scoping review of systematic reviews

Abstract

Purpose: The effectiveness of mindfulness training (MT) on mental health and wellbeing in different groups and contexts is well-established. However, the effect of MT on different healthcare professionals' (HCPs) mental health and wellbeing needs to be synthesised, along with a focus on outcomes that are specifically relevant to healthcare settings. The aim of this study is to summarise the effect of MT interventions on HCPs' mental health and wellbeing, to explore its effect on communication skills and to identify potential gaps in the literature.

Methods: A scoping review of systematic reviews (SRs) investigating MT interventions in HCPs was conducted. A comprehensive systematic search was conducted from database inception to 22 February 2023 on Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Scopus, Cochrane (CENTRAL), EBSCHOhost CINAHL, Ovid PsycINFO, Web of Science (Core Collection), OpenGrey, TRIP Database and Google Scholar. Snowballing of reference lists and hand-searching were utilised. Risk of bias and quality of included SRs were assessed using the ROBIS and AMSTAR2 tools.

Results: Sixteen SRs were included in this review. We found substantial evidence for MT interventions improving mental health and wellbeing across different HCPs, with the exception of burnout, where evidence is mixed. There is a paucity of SRs evaluating communication skills other than empathy. However, the available evidence is suggestive of improvements in self-reported empathy. Details of MT fidelity and dosage are largely absent in the SRs, as is study populations from representative EDI samples.

Conclusions: Synthesis of SRs suggests that MT improves mental health and wellbeing in HCPs. The exception is burnout, where results are inconclusive. Insufficient data exists to evaluate effects of MT on the full spectrum of communication skills. Other HCPs than medicine and nursing are inadequately represented. Further research is required that considers the specific target population of HCPs and MT curriculum, and reports on fidelity, dosage and the effects on communication skills.