A breathing technique could ease stress levels of healthcare workers at long-term care facilities, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study evaluated a breathing technique to see if it lowered stress in long-term care workers. For the study, the researchers compared breathing techniques in 688 people split up into two groups. All of the workers were from 31 long-term care communities in Alberta, Canada. One group did the breathing exercises and the other used the same breathing method while using a biofeedback device. A control group wasn’t included in the study design.
The experiment took place between February and September of 2022 — during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants received training on how to use the technique and filled out questionnaires before and after the intervention. Questionnaires gauged their levels of anxiety, depression, stress, psychological distress, resilience, insomnia, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout. The workers had to practice coherent breathing from two to 10 minutes a day, five to seven times a week over the course of an eight-week span.
Participants practiced coherent breathing, which involves inhaling deep into the belly for a count of four, five or six, and then exhaling for the same amount of time. Coherent breathing synchronizes the heart rate and breathing so they become coherent — hence the name of the technique. This type of breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system to combat the sympathetic nervous system, which physically calms the body. The breathing technique can lower heart rate and blood pressure.
There were positive changes in stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and resilience among those in the intervention program. The authors noted that there weren’t outcome improvements noted in the group with the biofeedback devices.
“Our findings suggest that coherent breathing may be a useful strategy to improve stress, mental health, physical health and quality of work-life outcomes in LTC staff,” the authors wrote.
