Efficiency of group Mindfulness-based stress reduction Program on quality of life and job stress among emergency medical technicians

Emergency medical technicians experience more job stress due to being exposed to emergency conditions. The present study was conducted to determine the efficiency of group mindfulness-based stress reduction program on quality of life and job stress among emergency medical technicians.

The research method was quasi-experimental. The statistical population was all emergency medical technicians in Isfahan in 2019 of whom 30 were selected using convenience sampling and given the inclusion criteria, they were divided into case (n=15) and control groups (n=15). The case group received mindfulness-based stress reduction training and the control group received no interventions. MBSR therapy was conducted in 8 sessions of 120 minutes once a week. The research instruments were the Quality of Life Scale developed by Ware, Kosinski and Keller (1996) and the Job Stress Scale developed by Kahn, Wolf, Quinn, Snook and Rosenthal (1964). Data were analyzed in SPSS 23.

Results of ANOVA showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction caused an increase in the mean score of quality of life among emergency medical technicians in the case group compared to the control (P<0.05, F=55.77). In addition, results of ANCOVA indicated that mindfulness-based stress reduction reduced mean score of job stress in emergency medical technicians (P<0.05, F=12.70).

Given the results of the study, Teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction skills by encouraging people to practice them frequently, and focusing on body and mind, can help emergency medical technicians get rid of preoccupation with threatening thoughts and worries about job performance and increase their quality of life.