The Effects of a Month-Long Sabbatical Program on Helping Professionals of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in South Korea: Burnout, General Health, Organizational Commitment, and the Sense of Well-being

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of a month-long sabbatical program for helping professionals of nonprofit human service organizations in South Korea. To investigate the effects of a month- long sabbatical program, eight helping professionals who took a month-long paid sabbatical were compared to eight matched professionals in a comparison group experiencing equivalent work conditions. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected separately before and after the intervention and the results were converged. Findings from the quantitative data analysis showed that the program decreased the level of burnout and increased the level of general health, organizational commitment, and sense of well-being; the findings were validated by the qualitative analysis results.