Projecte Benestar 2026: Virtual Reality Program for Healthcare Workers (BENESTAR)

This is a multicenter randomized controlled trial with a delayed-start wait-list control design. The study will evaluate Projecte Benestar, an immersive educational virtual reality program designed to support emotional well-being, self-care, mindfulness, emotional regulation, and self-compassion among workers in healthcare settings.

The study population will include active professionals working in participating healthcare organizations, including clinical and non-clinical staff with direct healthcare contact or support functions. Participating institutions may include primary care, hospital, and intermediate care settings. Recruitment will be conducted among eligible workers who voluntarily agree to participate and provide informed consent.

Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio, stratified by center, to one of two study groups. Group A will receive the intervention during the first weeks of the study. Group B will continue usual activity during the initial period and will receive the same intervention after a wait-list period of approximately 6 months. This delayed-start design allows comparison between immediate intervention and usual activity while ensuring that all participants are eventually offered the program.

The intervention consists of eight brief individual virtual reality sessions delivered through autonomous virtual reality headsets. Each session lasts approximately 9 to 15 minutes and combines short educational content with guided immersive practice. The contents include mindfulness, breathing exercises, body scan practices, emotional regulation strategies, the RAIN technique, self-compassion, and a final integration session. Sessions may be delivered in a standard 8-week format with one session per week, or in an intensive 4-week format with two sessions per week, depending on local logistical capacity.

The virtual reality content is fixed and non-adaptive. All participants receive the same sequence of sessions. The application does not require internet connection during use and does not collect automatic data from the device. Participants complete sessions seated in a quiet institutional space, with a local study reference person available for technical support or in case of discomfort.

The primary outcome is change in emotional exhaustion measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey. Secondary outcomes include the other burnout dimensions of depersonalization and personal accomplishment, work engagement measured with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, usability measured with the System Usability Scale, participant satisfaction, adherence to the sessions, and tolerability or incidents related to virtual reality use.

Data will be collected at baseline, after the first intervention cycle, at 6 months, after the delayed intervention cycle, and at 12 months. The main analysis will compare changes in outcomes between the immediate intervention group and the wait-list control group, with additional within-group pre-post analyses and follow-up assessments over time.