Alexithymia and professional quality of life in radiation oncology: The moderator effect of the professional profile

Professional development through mentoring: Final evaluation of the pilot mentoring programme of the European society of radiotherapy and oncology

The European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) organized a one-year pilot mentoring programme. At evaluation after one year, both mentors and mentees scored the programme with a median score of 9 on a scale of 10. All of the mentors indicated that they wanted to participate again as mentors.

Alexithymia, Burnout, and Hopelessness in a Large Sample of Healthcare Workers during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Italy

In the present study, we aimed to assess the frequency of and the relationships between alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness in a large sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the third wave of COVID-19 in Italy. Alexithymia was evaluated by the Italian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and its subscales Difficulty in Identifying Feelings (DIF), Difficulty in Describing Feelings (DDF), and Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT), burnout was measured with the scales emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) of the Maslach Burnout Test (MBI), hopelessness was measured using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and irritability (IRR), depression (DEP), and anxiety (ANX) were evaluated with the Italian version of the Irritability' Depression' Anxiety Scale (IDA). This cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 1445 HCWs from a large urban healthcare facility in Italy from 1 May to 31 June 2021. The comparison between individuals that were positive (n = 214, 14.8%) or not for alexithymia (n = 1231, 85.2%), controlling for age, gender, and working seniority, revealed that positive subjects showed higher scores on BHS, EE, DP IRR, DEP, ANX, DIF, DDF, and EOT and lower on PA than the not positive ones (p < 0.001). In the linear regression model, higher working seniority as well as higher EE, IRR, DEP, ANX, and DDF scores and lower PA were associated with higher hopelessness. In conclusion, increased hopelessness was associated with higher burnout and alexithymia. Comprehensive strategies should be implemented to support HCWs' mental health and mitigate the negative consequences of alexithymia, burnout, and hopelessness.

An impact model to understand and improve work-life balance in early-career researchers in radiation oncology

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial effect on mental health and work productivity of early-career researchers working in Radiation Oncology (RO). However, the underlying mechanisms of these effects are unclear. The aim of the current qualitative study was therefore to achieve a better understanding of how these effects arose and could be managed in the future.

Methods

This study was conducted jointly by RO and qualitative health researchers. Data was collected in four online Focus Groups with 6-11 RO researchers (total N = 31) working in Europe. The transcripts were analysed through a qualitative cross-impact analysis.

Results

Causal relations were identified between seventeen variables that depict the impact of disrupted working conditions. Mental health and work productivity were indeed the most important affected variables, but relations between variables towards these impacts were complex. Relations could either be positive or negative and direct or indirect, leading to a cascade of interrelated events which are highly personal and could change over time. We developed the model 'impact of disrupted working conditions' depicting the identified variables and their relations, to allow more individual assessment and personalised solutions.

Conclusion

The impacts of disrupted working conditions on RO researchers varied due to the complexity of interrelated variables. Consequently, collective actions are not sufficient, and a more personal approach is needed. Our impact model is recommended to help guide conversations and reflections with the aim of improving work/life balance. The participants showed high levels of personal responsibility towards their own mental health and work productivity. Although being an individual issue, a collective responsibility in developing such approaches is key due to the dependency on organizational variables.

Prevalence and factors associated with compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue among Chinese oncology healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional survey

Objective

This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence and factors associated with compassion satisfaction and fatigue among oncology healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses) in mainland China.

Methods

A total of 337 subjects were recruited via convenience sampling from the oncology departments of five general hospitals in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. They were invited to complete a survey that included demographic characteristics, the Profession Quality of life Scale, the Brief Cope Questionnaire, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale.

Results

The findings showed medium levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress among oncology healthcare professionals in China, reaching rates of 78.34%, 63.50% and 75.96%, respectively. Multiple regression analyses suggested that active coping, positive reframing, and strength were the significant factors of compassion satisfaction, explaining 48.6% of the total variance (P ​< ​0.001). Substance use and self-blame were the significant factors of burnout, explaining 45.1% of the total variance (P ​< ​0.001). Venting, denial, substance use, self-blame, and strength were the significant factors of secondary traumatic stress, explaining 37.6% of the total variance (P ​< ​0.001).

Conclusions

The high prevalence of compassion fatigue warrants the attention of the hospitals' senior management. The effective coping styles identified may be considered when developing strategies to improve the professional quality of life among oncology healthcare professionals.