Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2024
Abstract
This case study describes pilot implementation of Nalanda Institute’s Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) with community care providers in New York City (NYC) to protect them from stress and trauma impacts and nurture their capacity to deliver skillful, compassionate care.
The Academy for Community Behavioral Health in NYC offered CBRT at no cost to a diverse cohort of 28 non-profit care providers. This virtual 8-week course met weekly for two hours over Zoom, with formal and informal meditation practice between sessions. A mixed methods pre/post survey assessed changes in mediation practice, work-related stress, and mindfulness and compassion. A final survey invited participant feedback on course experiences and course outcomes.
This case study suggests that a virtual 8-week CBRT course can be both feasible and effective for community care providers, even in their demanding roles. Most participants who started the course completed it (77%). CBRT helped participants establish a regular meditation practice and led to improvements on indicators of work-related stress, mindfulness, and compassion. Participants linked these changes to an increased sense of hopefulness, agency, and resilience for navigating stress and trauma in their work. They also found valued peer support in the course.
This case study offers one model for sharing effective but underutilized contemplative healing tools with care providers who encounter significant stress and trauma. It can inform efforts by funders, organizational leaders, managers, direct care staff, and researchers to better protect these critical helpers.
Comments
Tosatti, E. and Khamash, L. (2024), "Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) to protect and nurture community care providers", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-08-2024-0099
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