Examination of a Self-Compassion Course for Healthcare Providers Working With People With Multiple Sclerosis

July 24, 2025 updated by: Robert Simpson
Clinical staff working with people with multiple sclerosis often face emotional fatigue and high levels of burnout. The Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course is an evidence-based intervention that teaches participants how to meet distress with kindness and care. This study will recruit up to 40 staff from the Barlo MS Clinic at St. Michael's Hospital to take part in a 6-week, 6-session Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course. Participants will be asked to complete surveys before and after the course to understand the effects of the course on a range of outcomes. Participants will be invited to take part in one qualitative interview on their perspectives on the course.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5B 1W8
        • Unity Health Toronto
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Aged 18 years or older
  2. Able to understand spoken and written English
  3. Current professional affiliation with the Barlo MS clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

1) Severe active mental health impairment (psychosis, suicidality)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-compassion course
6-week manualized online Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course
Behavioral: Self-compassion intervention (Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course)
An online 6-week mindful self-compassion course with weekly sessions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recruitment
Time Frame: 6 months
The investigators will measure the number of participants eligible for and recruited to the study.
6 months
Retention
Time Frame: 6 months
The investigators will measure the percentage of participants who complete outcome data.
6 months
Adherence
Time Frame: 6 months
The investigators will measure the number of participants who completed the Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course.
6 months
Follow-up rates
Time Frame: 6 months
The investigators will measure the percentage of participants who complete outcome measures pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) Version 5
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measures the positive and negative effects of one's compassion for those that they help. Includes with subscales for compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue (including burnout). Answers are assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores on the compassion satisfaction sub-scale indicating higher compassion satisfaction, and higher scores on compassion fatigue sub-scale indicating higher burnout.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measures how one typically acts towards themselves in difficult times. The total score ranges from a 1-5, with higher scores representing high self-compassion.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Relational Compassion Scale
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measure's ones tendencies for receiving and providing relational compassion. Answers are assessed using a 4-point Likert scale. Higher scores represent higher compassion for self and others.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Perceived Stress Scale-10
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measures one's thoughts and feelings pertaining to stress. The total score can range from 0-40, with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale - Short Form
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measures emotion regulation. Answers are assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Higher values indicate greater difficulties in emotion regulation.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Dispositional Joy Scale
Time Frame: Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention
Measures trait/dispositional joy. Answers are assessed using a 7-point Likert scale, with higher scores representing higher joy.
Baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks after baseline), and 3 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Robert Simpson

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 24, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 24, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

July 31, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 31, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 24, 2025

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2072

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

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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