The providers share workshop as a tool for improving burnout among abortion care workers in East Africa

Abstract

Objectives: The Providers Share Workshop (PSW) is a facilitated workshop that gives abortion care workers an opportunity to reflect on the rewards and burdens of their work. We report on the workshop's impact on professional burnout. Methods: We conducted a multisite study of PSW in East Africa in 2015. Fifty-nine people participated and completed surveys immediately before, after and 6 months following the workshop. Surveys assessed demographic characteristics and validated measures of stigma, team functioning and professional burnout [using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)]. The MBI captures three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion (feeling worn down and fatigued by one's work), personal accomplishment (achievement in one's role) and depersonalization (an unsympathetic and impersonal response to clients). Subscale scores are classified as “low,” “moderate” and “high.” We report changes in the MBI over time. Repeated measures analyses were completed using Stata Version 14. Results: At baseline, participants reported moderate emotional exhaustion (mean=15.12, SD: 8.9), moderate depersonalization (mean=7.22, SD: 6.68) and high personal accomplishment (mean=40.7, SD: 7.41). Following participation in the PSW, workers showed significant improvements in emotional exhaustion (Time 2 mean=11.86; Time 3 mean=9.93; z-statistic=−3.68; p<.01) and in depersonalization of clients (Time 2 mean=7.53; Time 3 mean=4.53; z-statistic=−2.71; p<.05). Depersonalization scores shifted from “moderate” to “low” at the 6 month follow-up. Personal accomplishment scores remained stable at each time point. Conclusions: At baseline, this sample of abortion care workers had moderate levels of professional burnout, which improved over time. The Providers Share Workshop shows promise as a tool to reduce burnout in the abortion-providing workforce and for abortion human resources globally.