Storytelling Through Music to Improve Well-being Among Homeless Service Providers

Storytelling Through Music: a Novel Approach to Improve Well-being Among Homeless Service Providers

Homelessness is a complex social issue and requires a dedicated workforce of helping professionals, including nurses and social workers. Secondary traumatic stress is common in this workforce and contributes to poor professional quality of life, burnout, and job turnover. These factors undermine the health and well-being of homeless service providers and threaten the stability of this critical workforce. The purpose of this study is to evaluate "Storytelling Through Music," an innovative 6-week, multi-dimensional intervention, to improve well-being among homeless service providers.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Burnout, Professional; Anxiety; Secondary Trauma
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Storytelling Through Music

Detailed Description

Research has found that the burden of secondary traumatic stress among homeless service providers (HSP) is similar to that among other healthcare professionals, including nurses working in urban emergency departments and in inpatient psychiatric hospitals. Left unaddressed, secondary traumatic stress can cause compassion fatigue and emotional exhaustion, furthering a cycle of poor professional quality of life (QoL), burnout, and job turnover. Research has identified that arts-based interventions have promise in helping healthcare professionals cope with work-related emotions, assist in revealing genuine emotions linked to work-related stress, and in improving professional QoL. What remains unclear is if arts-based interventions can yield similar benefits amongst HSPs.

The purpose of this study, therefore, is to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Storytelling Through Music (STM) with HSPs working with the homeless population in Austin, Texas. STM is a six-week intervention that combines storytelling, reflective writing, song-writing, and self-care skills to improve emotion regulation through affective and cognitive coping skills. Our preliminary data suggests STM to be feasible and acceptable, and preliminary evidence demonstrates improved coping, psychosocial well-being, and burnout in nurses. Specifically, this project aims to:

Aim 1: Explore the contextual factors impacting the well-being of frontline HSPs.

Aim 2: Examine the feasibility of implementing Storytelling Through Music with HSPs.

Aim 3: Investigate the preliminary intervention effect on coping (emotion regulation, self-compassion); well-being (anxiety, depressive symptoms, loneliness, post-traumatic growth, insomnia); and work-related factors (secondary traumatic stress, burnout, compassion satisfaction, and intent to leave).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 14
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78712
      • University of Texas at Austin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• >18 years old
• employed in a homeless services organization in Austin/Travis County for at least 6 months
• licensed as a nurse or social worker
• ability to read and speak English
• access to computer, internet, and zoom.

Exclusion Criteria:

• previous participation in the STM intervention

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Storytelling Through Music; Storytelling Through Music is a six-week intervention that utilizes storytelling, reflective writing, self-care skills, and song-writing. The intervention will be administered in small groups of 4-6 participants/group and with a hybrid approach. The writing workshops will occur online, and the share circle (stories and songs shared with the group) will occur in person. The group sizes will be kept small to ensure that each participant has adequate time to share their writing during the group sessions.

Behavioral: Storytelling Through Music; Storytelling Through Music is a six-week intervention that combines storytelling, reflective writing, song-writing, and self-care skills to improve emotion regulation through affective and cognitive coping skills.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Study Feasibility	Feasibility will be evaluated by tracking the percentage of participants screened and enrolled. The study will be deemed feasible with a 60% enrollment rate.	Immediately post-intervention (6 weeks)
Intervention Feasibility	Feasibility will be evaluated by tracking the average number of sessions the participants complete. This intervention will be deemed feasible if 85% of the intervention is completed.	Immediately post-intervention (6 weeks)
Intervention Acceptability	An additional primary endpoint is acceptability. Acceptability will be evaluated with semi-structured interview questions to understand the participant's perception of intervention delivery and content, as well as the perceived impact.	Immediately post-intervention (6 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean Change from Baseline in Depression Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depression Short-Form 8a will be used.The minimum score is 8, and the maximum score is 40. Higher scores indicate higher levels of depressive symptoms.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Self-Compassion Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	Self-Compassion Scale; range is 26-130; higher score is better outcome.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Anxiety Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Emotional Distress-Anxiety Short-Form 8a will be used. The minimum score is 8, and the maximum score is 40. Higher scores indicate more anxiety.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Emotion Regulation Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) will be used to assess trait emotional intelligence (EI). The questionnaire consists of 30 items rated on a 7-point scale, provides a global trait EI score, and scores for four subscales (i.e., well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability). Higher scores correspond to high levels of trait EI.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Loneliness Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale; range is 0-60; lower score is better outcome.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Post-traumatic Growth Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	The Post-traumatic Growth Index (PTGI) consists of 21-items that measures the degree of positive changes in an individual's experience after a challenging life event. The PTGI consists of 5 dimensions: Relating to Others (7-items), New Possibilities (5-items), Personal Strength (4-items), Spiritual Change (2-items), and Appreciation of Life (3-items). Total scores can range from 0 to 105.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Insomnia Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Sleep Disturbance Short-Form 6a will be used. The minimum score is 6, and the maximum score is 30. Higher scores indicate more sleep disturbance.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention
Mean Change from Baseline in Professional Quality of Life Scores at 6 weeks and 10 weeks	The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) has three subscales: Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress. Scores are reported on individual subscales and can range from 10 to 50. Higher levels indicate more of the construct.	Immediately post-intervention and 1-month post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Carolyn Phillips, University of Texas at Austin

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 14, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): November 14, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 30, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 30, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 2, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: music intervention; burnout; emotional well-being; work-related stress
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Occupational Stress; Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Occupational Diseases; Fatigue; Mental Fatigue; Burnout, Psychological; Compassion Fatigue; Burnout, Professional
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00006156

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No