Brigham & Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Scientific Research on Yoga and the Workplace Yoga Alliance Webinar June 4, 2020 Sat Bir S. Khalsa, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director of Yoga Research, Yoga Alliance Director of Research, Kundalini Research Institute Editor in Chief, International Journal of Yoga Therapy Research Associate, Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine Research Affiliate, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
“Developing workplace health initiatives, tools and methods for empowering companies and other work settings to take better care of health, without unduly relying on professional health services .”
“One profound demographic shift facing many industrialized nations is the increasing longevity and average age of the population. As the population ages, the available workforce is also aging. By 2020, at least quarter of the workforce in many countries is expected to be age 55 and older. At the same time, chronic health conditions are becoming increasingly important as a cause of work disability across the globe, affecting not only aging workers, but also youth in transition, and mid-career workers. Over 40 % of US workers have a chronic health condition and 15 – 20 % of workers report health- related work limitations…”
“The most common factor identified for early retirement was ill health, with ill health associated with people not being able to work or with people having difficulty in performing as expected at work.” “Occupational health programmes were often suggested as a way of maintaining or improving the health of working people and thus ensuring or enabling their work continuation.”
Workplace Challenges ⚫ Stress and resilience ⚫ Productivity ⚫ Burnout ⚫ Performance ⚫ Fatigue ⚫ Efficiency ⚫ Mood/emotion disturbance ⚫ Absenteeism ⚫ Musculoskeletal conditions ⚫ Presenteeism ⚫ Well-being/quality of life ⚫ Turnover ⚫ Behavior ⚫ Job Satisfaction ⚫ Sleep disturbance ⚫ Relationships ⚫ Empowerment ⚫ Inequality/stigma ⚫ Creativity ⚫ Discrimination
Yoga Practices Postures, Breathing, Relaxation, Meditation Self-Regulation Awareness Spirituality Fitness ↑Flexibility ↑Attention ↑Unitive State ↑Stress Regulation ↑Strength ↑Emotion Regulation ↑Mindfulness ↑Transcendence ↑Coordination/Balance ↑Resilience ↑Concentration ↑Flow ↑Respiratory Function ↑Equanimity ↑Cognition ↑Transformation ↑Self -Efficacy ↑Self -Efficacy ↑Meta -cognition ↑Life Meaning/Purpose Global Human Functionality ↑Physical & Mental Health, ↑Physical Performance ↑Stress & Emotion Regulation, ↑Awareness/Mindfulness, ↑Meta -cognition ↑ Positive Behavior, ↑Wellbeing, ↑Values, ↑Life Purpose & Meaning, ↑Spirituality
The Professional Transformation of Yoga into Mainstream Society Public Schools, Workplaces, Healthcare Research Ashrams, Studios, Yoga Centers, Gyms, Spas
“Workplace physical activity and yoga programmes are associated with a significant reduction in depressive symptoms and anxiety, respectively.” https://www.researchgate.net/profile/ Foong- Ming _Moy/publication/262562056_Do_workplace_physical_activity_interventions_improve_mental_health_outcomes/links /569723bb08aea2d74374ac82/Do-workplace-physical-activity-interventions-improve-mental-health-outcomes.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4866336/?report=printable
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Kinsella/publication/32604434 7_Mindfulness_and_human_occupation_A_scoping_review/links/5d08d700a 6fdcc35c1560c3e/Mindfulness-and-human-occupation-A-scoping-review.pdf
Mood/Stress in Occupational Setting Composed-Anxious Elated-Depressed Energized-Tired 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.0 3.2 3.2 Average Score Average Score Average Score 2.8 3.0 3.0 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.2 2.0 2.4 2.4 1.8 2.2 2.2 1.6 2.0 2.0 Confident-Unsure Clear-Minded-Confused 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.2 Average Score Average Score 3.2 3.0 3.0 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.0 Self-Confidence During Stress LIfe Purpose & Satisfaction 4.8 4.8 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.4 Average Score Average Score 4.2 4.2 4.0 4.0 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.2 3.0 3.0 From: The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. Hartfiel N, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Clarke G, Krayer A. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 37:70-6, 2011.
Stress in Occupational Setting From: Yoga for reducing perceived stress and back pain at work, Hartfiel N, Burton C, Rycroft-Malone J, Clarke G, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Edwards RT, Occupational Medicine 62:606 – 612, 2012.
Back Pain in Occupational Setting From: Yoga for reducing perceived stress and back pain at work, Hartfiel N, Burton C, Rycroft-Malone J, Clarke G, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Edwards RT, Occupational Medicine 62:606 – 612, 2012.
“This study indicated that an 8 -week Dru Yoga programme, compared with usual-care, was associated with improvements in health-related quality of life and reductions in both physical and psychosocial components of back pain. Yoga in the workplace appeared to be a cost-effective option, potentially reducing sickness absence due to musculoskeletal conditions.”
Resilience, Integration, Self-awareness, Engagement
Perceived Stress Stress in 20 Frontline 15 Professionals 10 N=71 from fields of 5 education, healthcare, and Baseline Post Follow-up corrections in a residential 5-day Kripalu program Resilience 92 90 From: Improvements in Psychological 88 Health Following a Residential Yoga- based Program for Frontline 86 Professionals, Trent N, Miraglia M, 84 Miraglia M, Dusek J, Pasalis E, Khalsa 82 SBS, Journal of Occupational and 80 Environmental Medicine, 60:357-367, Baseline Post Follow-up 2018
Mindfulness in Frontline Professionals Total Mindfulness Score 145 140 135 130 125 120 Baseline Post Follow-up From: Improvements in Psychological Health Following a Residential Yoga-Based Program for Frontline Professionals, Trent NL, Miraglia M, Dusek JA, Pasalis E, Khalsa SBS, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60:357-367, 2018.
Yoga in Education Professionals From: A Pragmatic Controlled Trial of a Brief Yoga-Based Program for Education Professionals’ Psychological and Occupational Health. Dyer NL, Borden S, Dusek JA, Khalsa SBS, (in press, Complementary Therapies in Medicine).
Yoga in Education Professionals From: A Pragmatic Controlled Trial of a Brief Yoga-Based Program for Education Professionals’ Psychological and Occupational Health. Dyer NL, Borden S, Dusek JA, Khalsa SBS, (in press, Complementary Therapies in Medicine).
http://www.massmed.org/News-and-Publications/MMS-News-Releases/Physician-Burnout-Report-2018/ “The prevalence of physician burnout has reached critical levels. Recent evidence indicates that nearly half of all physicians experience burnout in some form. And it appears to be getting worse. The 2018 Survey of America’s Physicians Practice Patterns and Perspectives finds that … 78% of surveyed physicians experience feelings of professional burnout at least sometimes, an increase of 4% from the 2016 survey .”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6462946/pdf/jcm-08-00284.pdf
Wayne PM, Yeh GY, Mehta DH “A growing body of clinical studies suggests that interventions, including mindfulness, yoga, and mind-body skills training, may be helpful in building the self-awareness and resilience needed for medical students, residents, and established physicians to mitigate burnout risk. This preliminary research likely played an essential role in Harvard Medical School’s 2018 decision to now require all first years to participate in a mind- body resiliency training program.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lipiroy/2020/05/17/doctor-heal- thyself-physician-burnout-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/#5070d462213c Physician burnout was an epidemic BEFORE the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a 2018 study, 400 physicians die by suicide each year – double that of the general population. In addition, doctors have the highest suicide rate of any profession in the U.S including combat veterans. From an economic standpoint, studies estimate that physician burnout is costing the health care system approximately $4.6 billion per year. Burnout has nothing to do with weakness, laziness or incompetence. “The prevailing attitude,” report Pamela Hartzband, MD and Jerome Groopman , MD in a recent NEJM article, “was that burnout is a physician problem and those who can’t adapt need to get with the program or leave.” Some hospitals have created the position, Chief Wellness Officer. Others have offered resilience and meditation workshops, social hours and tips for maximizing productivity. But, according to Hartzman and Groopman , none of these “solutions” address the underlying problem: a profound lack of alignment between caregivers’ values and the reconfigured health care system.
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