Burnout in Home Palliative Care: What Is the Role of Coping Strategies?

Abstract

Objective: The study examines psychophysical distress of health-care professionals providing home-based palliative care. The aim is to investigate potential correlations between dimensions of burnout and different coping strategies. Methods: The present study is an observational cross-sectional investigation. The study involved all the home palliative care teams of an Italian nonprofit organization. Of a total of 275 practitioners working for the organization, 207 (75%) decided to participate in the study and complete questionnaires. Questionnaires employed were Maslach Burnout Inventory, General Health Questionnaire 12, Psychophysiological Questionnaire of CBA 2.0, and Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced. Professionals were physicians (50%), nurses (36%), and psychologists (14%). There were no exclusion criteria. Data were processed by SPSS 23 and analyses employed were Spearman ρ, Mann-Whitney U test, and 1-way analysis of variance on ranks. Results: Among participants, a low number of professionals were emotionally exhausted (11%) or not fulfilled at work (20%), whereas most of them complained of depersonalization symptoms (67%). Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were found to be associated with avoidance coping strategies, whereas problem-solving and positive attitude were negatively associated with emotional exhaustion and positively with personal accomplishment. Moreover, using avoidance strategies was related to a worse psychological and physical condition. Conclusions: Findings suggest the need to provide professionals training programs about coping and communication skills tailored to fit the professionals’ needs according to their work experience in palliative care and aimed at improving the approach to patients and relatives.