Received: 30 April 2018 | Accepted: 7 August 2018

DOI: 10.1002/hpja.192

LONG RESEARCH ARTICLE

Reducing stress and burnout in the public‐sector work

environment: A mindfulness meditation pilot study

Elizabeth Vella MHealthProm | Shane McIver PhD

Faculty of Health, Deakin University,

Burwood, Vic., Australia Abstract
Issue addressed: Identifying ways to manage the psychological and emotional costs
Correspondence
Elizabeth Vella, Faculty of Health, Deakin of workplace stress is essential. Mindfulness meditation is reported to support men-
University, 221 Burwood Highway, tal well‐being; however, findings are limited in Australian business settings. Accord-
Burwood, Vic., Australia.
Email: [email protected] ingly, this study explored the efficacy of a mindfulness meditation program tailored
for an Australian public‐sector workplace.
Methods: A mixed‐methods, single‐group, pre‐/post‐test design was used to eval-
uate a proof‐of‐concept mindfulness intervention. Quantitative measures
included the Perceived Stress Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Survey data
were collected to analyse participant experiences. Participants (n = 65) were
recruited from a government organisation. The 8‐week program ran weekly for
45 minutes and had a 65% retention rate. Resources were provided to support
home practice.
Results: Statistically significant decreases were obtained for perceived stress
(d = 0.8) and emotional exhaustion (d = 0.4). Themes from qualitative findings sug-
gested participants experienced an increased recognition of stress triggers, increased
ability to detach from stressors, increased calmness and increased ability to prioritise
work.
Conclusions: Qualitative results extend comparable quantitative research by detail-
ing how an appropriately tailored 8‐week meditation‐based program has the poten-
tial to decrease perceived stress in highly stressful work environments.
So what? Triangulated data suggest that an appropriately adapted mindfulness med-
itation program can be an effective, efficient and low‐cost inclusion within an organ-
isation's health promotion repertoire to help increase mental health among staff.

KEYWORDS
burnout, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, workplace stress

1 | INTRODUCTION medication and illicit drug use.4,6 Among these, poor eating habits
and excessive alcohol consumption are the most prevalent.7 Stress
Workplaces are increasingly recognised as important settings where has also been associated with a range of comorbidities such as car-
1–4
mental health should be supported and promoted. However, diovascular disease, reduced immune function8,9 depression and anx-
organisations and employees alike often struggle to achieve these iety.10
5
goals. Although strategies that focus on coping with stress may be
Untreated conditions such as stress often manifest as maladap- helpful with management in the short term,11 many do not address
tive behaviours, including poor diet, obesity, alcoholism, self‐ the underlying issues of the stress response12 and burnout.

Health Promot J Austral. 2019;30:219–227. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hpja © 2018 Australian Health Promotion Association | 219
220 | VELLA AND MCIVER

Additionally, these strategies do not necessarily develop resilience to literature on mindfulness interventions in the workplace suggest
challenges that will continue to arise in both the workplace and in adapted interventions could be problematic if seen as a quick solu-
life outside of work.13 Building resilience through evidence‐based tion and should be implemented with caution.29,30 Jamieson and
programs, providing early support and helping to increase mental Tuckey30 also advise it is vital to maintain the integrity of mindful-
health literacy are all seen as contributors to a positive workplace ness practice in any program adaptation.
culture.10,14 Building employee resilience and self‐efficacy is also a Most mindfulness‐based research has been conducted either in
proactive way to help individuals cope during stressful times.12,15 the fields of medical or allied health or in institutions such as univer-
Given the high psychological, physical, emotional and financial sities. Until recently,31 very little research attention has been given
10,15,16
cost of workplace stress, the question becomes how to to the public‐sector workplace,29 particularly in Australia, suggesting
address its ongoing management effectively in ways that are nonin- this area warrants further examination regarding efficacy. For exam-
trusive and easily implemented within an organisation's health and ple, despite developing a 5‐week program for the public service sec-
well‐being structure. One strategy can be seen in the burgeoning tor, the pilot study conducted by Bartlett and colleagues31 still found
interest in mindfulness‐based meditation for improving physical and limited feasibility due to workplace constraints, including available
mental well‐being.17 meditation space and work schedules. Given these findings and the
Mindfulness can be considered a process as well as an outcome. general paucity of data in this field, it was of interest to analyse out-
18–20
It has been proposed that, through the core elements of inten- comes arising from a program tailored as a workplace health initia-
tion to commit to the practice, sustained attention and an attitude tive, which acknowledged and addressed the restraints of a busy
of patience and acceptance, a metacognitive state is developed Australian public‐sector work environment.
resulting in disengagement from and reappraisal of experiences. By The current study was adapted from the Kabat‐Zinn MBSR pro-
deliberately and systematically regulating attention without judge- gram,26 maintaining the fundamental protocol of focussing the atten-
ment, one can become aware of moment‐by‐moment experi- tion in a nonjudgemental way on the present‐moment experience.
ences.21,22 Through mindfulness practice, awareness of thoughts and To provide flexibility, modifications included shortening the length of
emotions increases and the meditator develops a nonreactive frame- sessions to 45 minutes, facilitating integration into the organisation's
work, simply observing each event as it arises.6,9 This experience pre‐existing workplace health promotion schedule and making the
then broadens the capacity to be aware of the self with uncondi- program accessible to all employees during or immediately following
tional observance resulting in freedom from typical mental activities work hours.
which include ruminating and worrying.17,23 Such self‐awareness also The purpose of the current study was to advance the existing lit-
helps to not only manage and articulate feelings,6 but also to negoti- erature by further investigating the feasibility of a tailored interven-
ate them and choose how to respond.22 tion in the Australian public‐sector work environment and,
Past research points to a series of useful outcomes relevant to accordingly, to examine how an adapted mindfulness program might
helping improve workplace health, such as acute stress reduction,9 impact stress and burnout. The first research question explored
chronic stress reduction,9 improved resilience,6,24 reduced anger and whether a tailored mindfulness meditation program reduced percep-
25
hostility and capacity to promote positive emotions such as empa- tions of stress and burnout in the workplace. The second question
thy and compassion.13,21,22 analysed the participants’ subjective experiences to identify what
On the strength of such positive research, large organisations arose for the participants that was (a) perceived as an outcome of
have started developing mindfulness‐based training programs which the meditation practice and (b), among those outcomes, which were
are conducted in‐house for their employees. However, every organi- the most meaningful and significant.
sation has specific needs and time pressures, and very few can
afford lengthy periods of time for staff to attend programs. As an
2 | METHODS
example, the typical 8‐week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
[MBSR] program26 requires a weekly attendance commitment of
2.1 | Participants
three hours, with 45 minutes of daily home practice and a full‐day
retreat. This sort of time commitment can deter organisations from The sample comprised a cohort of government employees from a
including such programs in their well‐being plans. Accordingly, sev- diverse range of roles including project worker, executive assistant,
eral studies have adapted the MBSR program. For example, Dobie27 program manager, legal team manager, emergency service manager
conducted an 8‐week program incorporating daily 15‐minute MBSR and program planner. All participants were located at the organisa-
sessions and three 30‐minute information sessions. Another adapted tion's head office. There was also a mix of contract, part‐time and
program23 ran 1.5‐hour sessions over a 4‐week period. Wolever28 full‐time workers.
adapted the MBSR program to run for 1 hour each week either in Recruitment was conducted over a 2‐week period through email
person or online for 12 weeks. communication to employees via the health and wellbeing team. An
Although many studies reported positive stress‐related outcomes, information session was conducted to give a brief background of the
not all adapted workplace programs led to reductions in stress and current literature on mindfulness and stress reduction, and the gen-
anxiety following the intervention. Notably, reviews of the current eral format of the 8‐week program. It was also highlighted that
VELLA AND MCIVER | 221

mindfulness meditation is not without risk and that the organisa- the alpha level of 0.05 and a power of 0.80, it was determined a
tion's support services were available should the need arise at any total of at least 53 participants were needed at commencement.
stage. The details for this service were provided as part of the
informed consent process. Following the information session prior to
2.2 | The program and procedure
the commencement of the meditation course, a total of 82 employ-
ees (51 female, 21 male) expressed interest in participating (see The course was informed by the literature regarding effective work-
Figure 1). As mindfulness meditation is an inclusive practice, there place health promotion practices2,10 and facilitated by a trained med-
were no exclusion criteria. itation teacher (see Box 1). Principal considerations were to
Four women and two men withdrew before the first session due accommodate workplace time constraints, so sessions were con-
to conflicting work commitments. Ten people were unable to partici- ducted on site during lunch periods or immediately after business
pate due to relocation of their offices. One woman attended the first hours. To accommodate the limited timeframe, components of the
session but did not sign the consent form and was excluded from MBSR program were not included: for example, yoga, mindful eating
the study. Sixty‐five people (46 female, 19 male) provided signed and mindful walking were omitted from sessions. The latter were,
informed consent and attended the first session. Of those who par- however, encouraged as part of ongoing informal meditation
ticipated, three had practised some form of meditation in the past. practices.
To determine an appropriate sample size for detecting any
potential treatment effects of the intervention, the power analysis32
2.3 | Measures
drew on a previous study33 which considered a meta‐analysis on
outcomes from a meditation‐based stress reduction program using To examine potential changes in stress and burnout, participants
psychological well‐being variables, reporting effect sizes for stress completed two validated, quantitative measures—Perceived Stress
(g = 0.83) and burnout (g = 0.39). Accordingly, the lowest expected Scale [PSS‐10]34 and Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI].35 These data
effect estimate served as the basis for the power calculation. Given were collected via paper surveys by the researcher at the beginning

FIGURE 1 Participant recruitment and program completion

222 | VELLA AND MCIVER

2.3.2 | Maslach burnout inventory (MBI)

Box 1
The MBI is designed to determine the risk of workplace burnout.35
The mindfulness‐based intervention.
In the development of this scale, Maslach and her colleagues35
1. Weekly background theoretical material gathered from found that burnout can lead to absenteeism, exhaustion, poor sleep,
recent research examining the connection between mind- self‐medication with alcohol and drugs, low morale and poor work
fulness and well-being, including physical and mental health performance. The MBI has been linked with workplace stress and is
reports. Topics covered (a) introduction to mindfulness; (b) also considered to be an important measure of job satisfaction.41,42
mindful breathing; (c) mindfulness and the stress response; The scale comprises 22 questions in three sections measuring
(d) mindfulness and thinking; (e) mindfulness, self-compas- three components of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisa-
sion and positive emotions; (f) mindfulness, communication tion and personal achievement, respectively. The emotional exhaus-
and responding; (g) mindfulness and stress reduction; and tion section describes depleted feelings of physical and emotional
(h) mindfulness in daily life. resourcefulness. The depersonalisation section describes feeling
2. Scaffolded experiential meditation practice, lasting from removed and distant from one's work as well as the clients/stake-
five to 15 minutes followed information sessions, as well holders with whom one works. The personal achievement section
as suggested formal and informal mindfulness practices. describes a sense of professional efficacy.
3. Participants were either seated or able to lay down on the Using a 7‐point Likert Scale, the MBI scale of 0‐6 (zero being
floor. “never” and 6 being “every day”) asks respondents to rate the fre-
4. Participants were then asked to reflect and share their quency over the last month of their experiences of each of these
experiences or ask questions. There was no expectation or subscale measures. A separate score is generated for each of the
obligation to do so. subscales. High scores on the first two subscales and low scores on
5. A home practice meditation log was provided for recording the third subscale suggest workplace burnout.
frequency of practice, plus a CD of guided meditations.
The CD comprised three guided meditations of varying
2.3.3 | Qualitative data
lengths (10-minute breathing meditation; 15-minute body
scan meditation; and 20-minute mind-body-breath medita- Qualitative data seeking was informed by the Most Significant
tion), plus a 20-minute unguided meditation including bells Change [MSC] model,36 which focuses on participants identifying
at 5-minute intervals. Home practice meditations were also what was significant and meaningful for them during the program,
available in MP3 format. plus scope for any suggestions. Examples of questions, completed
6. In the fourth week, walking meditations were made avail- postintervention, included: “Please describe what, if any, changes
able for downloading. Participants were encouraged to you have noticed in how manage your stress”; and “What would
practice formal meditations when most convenient for you consider to be the most significant change to how you respond
them. to challenging situations at work?” Data were categorised into
themes, allowing for any relationships between patterns of
responses to be identified and explored, as described by Green and
of the first session and again at the end of the final session. Qualita- Thorogood.43 Data were also subjected to interrater reliability44 with
tive data comprising a paper survey based on the Most Significant input from another researcher to augment rigour and consistency.
Change model36 were completed following the last session, and the
meditation logs were collected at the same time.
2.4 | Data analysis
Baseline data met the criteria for conducting paired‐sample t tests.45
2.3.1 | Perceived stress scale (PSS‐10)
IBM SPSS Statistics 23 (IBM SPSS Software 2009) was used for
The PSS‐10 comprises 10 questions relating to feelings and quantitative data analysis, with paired‐sample t tests conducted to
thoughts. Using a Likert Scale of 0‐5 (zero being “never” and 5 being assess any changes in scores over time.
“very often”), the PSS‐10 asks respondents to indicate how often Thematic analysis was used as a method for identifying key pat-
thoughts or feelings of being overwhelmed by uncontrollable or terns that arose within the qualitative data, and in this case,
unpredictable life events occurred during the last month. Four of the responses were analysed using an inductive thematic approach as
10 items are reverse‐scored. The total score represents the per- described by Braun and Clarke.46 This process involves several steps
ceived stress level of the individual, with higher scores indicating including reading and rereading the data to become familiar with the
higher perceived levels of stress. This measure was deemed to be content, identifying any patterns which might emerge and defining
appropriate as it is a widely used psychological measure of the per- and naming resultant themes. There are many benefits associated
ceived experience of stress37 and the criteria have also been found with this method, including its flexibility and the potential for com-
to be valid across age and gender and cultures.38–40 plex and comprehensive understanding of the data.46 To avoid bias
VELLA AND MCIVER | 223

towards success, selectivity or popular views,36 all participants’ practiced formal meditation outside the course sessions (ranging
responses to the survey were included as data. Analysis was further from 10 to 30 minutes). Most participants (n = 40) attended an aver-
informed by an interpretative phenomenological framework, which age of seven of the eight sessions. Although two participants were
47
examines how participants make meaning of their experiences. only able to attend three of the eight sessions due to work commit-
ments, both participants indicated they continued to practice formal
meditation outside the program sessions.
3 | RESULTS
3.2.2 | Survey data
Following the organisation's internal promotion of the meditation
study, 65 participants started and 42 participants completed the pro- Taking an inductive approach in which themes are linked to the
gram (see Figure 1), representing a 65% retention rate. data,46 all 42 responses from the Most Significant Change data set
were read and reread several times. Prevalence of the answers was
assessed and then categorised into key themes for each question,
3.1 | Quantitative data
following which any relationships between patterns of responses
were explored.44 These patterns were then grouped into five key
3.1.1 | Perceived stress
significant change themes (see Table 1). To ensure the rigour of anal-
A statistically significant decrease was found in PSS‐10 scores ysis, all responses were checked by another researcher who con-
between preintervention (M = 19.83, SD = 6.60) and postinterven- firmed the themes.
tion (M = 14.54, SD = 6.25), t (5.8), df = 41, P < 0.000. According to It appears from the analysis that, as participants progressed
Cohen,32 the effect size could be considered large (d = 0.8). through the 8‐week program, levels of awareness and skill increased.
Themes are detailed in the following section and include examples
of participant statements.
3.1.2 | Burnout
A statistically significant decrease was also found in the Burnout
3.2.3 | Increased recognition of stress triggers
(Emotional Exhaustion) subscale of the MBI between preintervention
(M = 17.64, SD = 10.49) and postintervention (M = 13.54, SD = 10.38, Over the course of the program, participants developed a greater
t (3.4), df = 41, P < 0.001). Cohen's d (0.4) indicated a medium effect sense of self‐observation and present‐moment awareness, with an
size. The other two MBI subscales were not statistically significant, increased ability to objectively recognise the signs and internal cues
simply indicating trends towards decreased scores for depersonalisa- when challenging events arose. This became evident through
tion and increased scores for personal achievement, specifically, for responses such as “…notice before it becomes overwhelming” and
depersonalisation: preintervention (M = 12.09, SD = 8.52) and postin- “…more observant to see the earlier signs of stress.” Responses such
tervention (M = 9.64, SD = 8.42, t (2.13), df = 41, P < 0.4) and for as “being able to notice what stresses me” and “more aware if I am
personal achievement: preintervention (M = 32.0, SD = 7.42) and starting to feel jittery…” described increasing levels of self‐awareness
postintervention (M = 34.26, SD = 10.56, t (−1.4), df = 41, P = 0.18). pertaining to the physiological impacts of stress particularly.

3.2 | Qualitative data 3.2.4 | Increased awareness of feelings: becoming

calmer and more detached
3.2.1 | Meditation log
Ongoing awareness of the physical response to stress facilitated a
All participants acknowledged regularly practicing informal mindful- subsequent ability to develop degrees of detachment from the identi-
ness techniques such as “mindful minute” breathing. The individual fied stressors. This was reflected in comments such as, “I just don't
meditation logs indicated that 79% of participants (n = 33) also feel it [stress] in my bones/fibre as much.” One example of typical
comments was the “…ability to step back from what is happening, put
T A B L E 1 Most significant change themes
things in perspective and give myself time to respond,” suggesting
Participant Percentage participants were beginning to cultivate distance between thoughts
Theme (n = 42) (%)
and reactions. Many noted how increased reflection contributed to
Increased recognition of stress triggers 37 88
less reactivity and enhanced clarity for any given situation.
Increased awareness of feelings: 25 58
becoming calmer and more detached
Increased awareness of thoughts: the 28 67 3.2.5 | Increased awareness of thoughts: the ability
ability to make choices to make choices
Increased ability to prioritise work 30 71
As participants recognised links between their stress reactions and
Increased acceptance of self and others 28 67
habitual past practices, they reflected on an increasing ability to stop
224 | VELLA AND MCIVER

these patterns and choose how to respond. Examples forming this in the meta‐analysis conducted in 29 quantitative studies on
theme include, “…taking a mindful minute to refocus” and “…gather MBSR.33 However, only seven studies measured burnout and did
myself and look at the options.” not report on the three subscales, which could account for the con-
clusion that only small effects were observed on this measure as a
whole.33 When these subscales are considered, as in the current
3.2.6 | Increased ability to prioritise work
study, findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the
Responses in relation to workload management were of particular constituents of burnout.
relevance to this study. There was a clear improvement in the per- Decreases in emotional exhaustion have multiple positive out-
ception of control as demonstrated through the comments pertaining comes, since this is the first stage of burnout.29,49 Such exhaustion
to prioritisation of workloads, including “take stock of what needs to typically prompts a distancing between oneself and the work envi-
be done” and “think clearly and prioritise.” Participants recognised ronment (manifesting as depersonalisation or cynicism), ultimately
multitasking as not supportive of productivity, but that it functions leading to a reduced sense of personal achievement and motivation.
as a distraction, requiring constant switching of attention from one While causality may not be definitive, variation between scores—
thing to another. Examples of this were comments such as, “[I] try particularly between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation—
not to multitask…I use a checklist to help accomplish all tasks,” “I can be used to predict future change.50 In view of this, when the
am more inclined to focus on one thing at a time” and “I now focus trends of the two MBI subscales (depersonalisation and personal
on high priorities.” achievement) are considered in conjunction with the medium effect
size from the emotional exhaustion subscale, it is reasonable to sug-
gest that greater positive changes might be obtained with sustained
3.2.7 | Increased acceptance of self and others
mindfulness practice over a longer period of time. This assertion is
By observing whatever is being experienced in the moment, partici- further supported by the positive changes found by Fortney and his
pants began to accept themselves as they are, letting go of judge- colleagues51 in both depersonalisation and personal achievement at
ments and criticism. This was reflected not only through a sense of the 9‐month postintervention follow‐up.
self‐compassion, but also through increased compassion and empa- Qualitative findings provided insights for understanding factors
thy for others. Comments demonstrating this change included “… contributing to the quantitative results. Drawing on the MSC
recognising that others are stressed,” “taking things less personally” model,36 data focused on what experiences or observations had
and “I feel closer and kinder and more ‘present’ with my col- most meaning for participants. Themes suggested early engagement
leagues.” with mindfulness meditation initially increased awareness concerning
Whereas most participants (n = 40) indicated some level of perti- the physical toll stress takes, which had often remained unnoticed.
nent and significant change in how they managed their stress, nota- Over the course of the program, this growing level of awareness
bly some participants reported no significant change in relation to was complemented with a developing ability to become less reactive
questions regarding workload management (n = 8), and/or changes in and more detached, which had an increasing calming effect. This is
relationships with colleagues or others (n = 10). consistent with other studies whereby developing a level of detach-
ment from the stressors offers a level of freedom from the contin-
ued activation of the physiological stress response and leads to a
4 | DISCUSSION calming of the system both physiologically and psychologically.28
The combined consequences of these two complementary forms
Given the current high levels of workplace stress and the growing of awareness appeared to create a third capability; questioning typi-
burden of associated diseases,48 implementing effective and low‐cost cal habits, patterns and reactive styles, preferring to become more
workplace health programs has become essential. Accordingly, the proactive through making conscious choices. For many participants,
purpose of the current study was to develop an effective medita- this resulted in a sense of improved clarity of thought and self‐effi-
tion‐based program tailored for a demanding Australian workplace cacy, which flowed into developing a personal best practice
environment and evaluate the subsequent outcomes. Statistically sig- approach to work prioritisation and management. During the pro-
nificant decreases in perceived stress and in emotional exhaustion at cess, participants observed additional effects arising from these
post‐test, including the respective large (d = 0.8) to medium (d = 0.4) changes, including decreases in being judgemental of oneself and
effect sizes, indicated an 8‐week mindfulness‐based meditation pro- others, and improved relationships with colleagues. These results
gram has the potential to reduce perceived stress and burnout and complement and extend other mindfulness studies52,53 by offering a
help promote mental health. While there are no control group com- deeper understanding of how mindfulness practice evolves and
parisons in the current study, randomised control trials (for example translates experientially.
Jain et al, 2015) have found similarly large effect sizes in mindfulness Using a mixed‐methods approach provided an opportunity to use
treatment groups by comparison with controls in areas such as posi- triangulation techniques54 following data analysis to interpret and
tive states of mind, as well as rumination and distraction. These corroborate findings. This was done by two researchers indepen-
results are also consistent in relation to the reduction in stress found dently. When Most Significant Change themes are triangulated with
VELLA AND MCIVER | 225

the quantitative measures, the results suggest that, through the prac- body of mindfulness research grows, it is understandable more com-
tice of mindfulness, the process of developing a nonreactive frame- plex designs are required over time. However, it is necessary to
work and metacognitive awareness can change the stress begin collecting pilot data from Australian workplace settings to (a)
18,19,55
experience, in specific ways. The qualitative findings suggest compare to international interventions and (b) provide a rationale
mindfulness practice has the potential to increase personal resilience and leverage for larger local studies in the future. Further, the inclu-
and sense of control despite daily workplace demands, which is also sion of qualitative data in the present study extends current quanti-
reflected in the quantitative decreases observed in perceived stress tative research through identifying the steps, stages and changes
and emotional burnout. Together, the statistically significant experienced by participants that had the most personal meaning and
decreases in perceived stress and emotional exhaustion in conjunc- significance over time.
tion with the qualitative survey results suggest an increased aware- The inability to return to the cohort and discuss findings meant a
ness of chronic stress responses and ability to manage stress lack of respondent validity. To account for this limitation, qualitative
triggers, meeting a twofold criterion for clinical significance.56 data and findings were checked by two researchers as a form of
Carmody and Baer57 propose benefits of mindfulness‐based interrater reliability.59 This was a nonclinical trial, and as such, self‐
stress reduction programs are often related to the amount of formal selection bias was unavoidable. Accordingly, the potential influence
home practice undertaken. This was not found to be the case in the of expectancy effects60 was also not able to be formally measured.
current study. Although 79% of participants (n = 33) indicated they However, the consistency of themes within the qualitative data sug-
did practice formal meditation outside the program sessions, there gests participants were experiencing changes over the course of the
was a large variation in regularity of practice (from once a week to program that were unanticipated and surprising and that these
every day) and length of practice (from 10 to 30 minutes per ses- changes were common to most. Given there were a small number of
sion). All participants, however, indicated that they practiced infor- participants who did not identify any main changes, it appears
mally throughout the day, suggesting that combining formal with expectancy might not have been an influential factor.
informal mindfulness practice is important to a person's stress man-
agement repertoire.
Compliance in health promotion programs has been shown to 5 | CONCLUSION
58
vary markedly, resulting in a mean typically below 50%. However,
the current study's compliance rate was 65%. This was influenced by Supporting and promoting mental health in stressful workplaces
several factors. First, the flexibility of program delivery encouraged are a challenge worthy of ongoing investigation. The findings
regular attendance by participants. All sessions were conducted on reported in this Australian‐based pilot study demonstrate that
site at the organisation's head office, and participants were offered mindfulness meditation can be a relatively efficient and low‐cost
options to attend an alternative weekly session if they were unable inclusion within an organisation's health promotion program reper-
to make their usual day and time. Second, the adaptation of the pro- toire and has the potential for helping employees manage work-
gram into short (45 minutes) sessions meant people could attend place stress and burnout in specific ways. These findings are
during their lunch break or at the end of the workday, minimising aligned with comparable international research and extend the lit-
any prolonged absences from work. Third, running five sessions per erature in workplace health promotion approaches. Future research
week at one location also allowed increased convenience for atten- considering a broad range of Australian work environments and
dance. This level of flexibility was found to be acceptable by the par- conditions with robust research designs and long‐term follow‐up
ticipants as well as the organisation. Considering the limited are encouraged.
feasibility due to space and work constraints found in a recent study
in a similar work environment,31 it seems that flexibility of delivery
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and location are important considerations for the feasibility of a
workplace mindfulness program. It must also be noted that there The authors thank Associate Professor Lisa Barnett and Professor
was no financial cost to the participants or the organisation for this Tony LaMontagne for their suggestions and comments on this manu-
intervention. However, the authors acknowledge that, while running script.
such courses during lunchtimes or after work does not incur a cost
to the employer in terms of employee time, the cost of engaging a
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
trained mindfulness meditation facilitator would need to be factored
into any health and well‐being program. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

4.1 | Limitations COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICAL STANDARDS

Given the exploratory nature of the study, no wait‐list comparison Ethical approval was received on 20 April 2016: All procedures per-
group or follow‐up measures were included in the design. Addition- formed in this study involving human participants were in accor-
ally, no analysis was conducted on data from noncompleters. As the dance with the ethical standards of the Deakin University Human
226 | VELLA AND MCIVER

Research Ethics Committee (HEAG‐H 49_2016) and with the 1964 18. Garland EL, Hanley AW, Goldin PR, Gross JJ. Testing the mindful-
Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical ness‐to‐meaning theory: Evidence for mindful positive emotion regu-
lation from a reanalysis of longitudinal data. PLoS ONE. 2017;12
standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual partici-
(12):1.
pants included in the study. 19. Kabat-Zinn J. Mindfulness for beginners: reclaiming the present
moment - and your life. Boulder, Colorado: Sounds True; 2012.
20. Shapiro SL, Carlson LE, Astin JA, Freedman B. Mechanisms of mind-
ORCID fulness. J Clin Psychol. 2006;62(3):373–86.
21. Compton WC, Hoffman E. Positive psychology: the science of happi-
Elizabeth Vella http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1908-6153 ness and flourishing. 2e. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning; 2013.
22. Kabat-Zinn J. Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and
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