Stress Free Now in a Corporate Call Center (SFN)

Psychosocial stress increases the risk for a multitude of diseases, including obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Stress may also result in increased utilization of health care services. In the workplace, stress leads to emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction, lower productivity and impaired performance. Stress management programs and those based on mindfulness meditation have gained popularity in recent years. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of an 8-week web-based mindfulness stress reduction program and its effectiveness in reducing work related stress and improving well-being in a large corporate call center.

Subjects randomized to this group will receive access to the WSM program to complete on their own time.

Subjects randomized to this group will receive access to WSM with group support. They will meet once per week for 1 hour. Meeting will be led by one of their peers who is a non-expert facilitator.

Subjects randomized to this group will receive access to WSM and group support and clinical expert support. They will attend 4 weekly support groups led by a peer non-expert facilitator and 4 weekly support groups led by a clinical psychologist.

The intervention, developed by the Cleveland Clinic, is an 8-week online, interactive, educational program based on mindfulness meditation. Briefly, each week subjects are introduced to the (1) weekly audio introduction to the mindfulness theme or particular meditation technique of the week, (2) weekly audio meditation techniques for relaxation, (3) daily articles providing scientific evidence and merits of meditation, and (4) bi-weekly email reminders. The introductory talks and meditation exercises were also provided on compact discs (CD) in mp3 format.

Subjects will meet once per week for 1 hour during the 8-week duration and practice 2-minutes of deep breathing exercises, listen to 10-minutes audio recording of the weekly lesson and practice 20-30 minutes guided meditation exercise. The remainder of the time will be used to foster sharing experiences and answering specific questions related to the weekly lesson.

Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in improving mindfulness.

Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in reducing stress mindfulness.

Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in decreasing burnout mindfulness.

Engagement assessed by measuring number of weeks participants actively accessed the intervention website.

Outcome measured using emotional well-being subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

Productivity assessed using the call center composite measure of productivity computed monthly for each call service associate.

Outcome measured using vitality subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

Outcome measured using emotional role functioning subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

Inclusion Criteria: Frontline employee of large corporate call center Internet access Exclusion Criteria: Manager or supervisor of large corporate call center