New study investigating burnout in dental professionals calls for participants

In an open letter, Zoe Clothier from the School of Psychology wrote, “It has been well established that this is a demanding profession, and we are interested in exploring factors that can influence health and wellbeing. We are therefore writing to invite you to take part in our research.

“The first phase of this study involves the completion of a questionnaire. This should only take about 10-15 minutes of your time and will ask you questions about yourself, aspects of your wellbeing, and about your work and its demands.

“The second phase of this project will evaluate an online intervention programme designed by Firstbeat that aims reduce the effects of burnout, help you cope with the demands of work, and covers a range of topics to improve wellbeing. Should you choose to participate in this phase of the study, you will benefit from having free access to the intervention material and a monitor to assess your heart rate variability (an indicator of overall wellbeing and general health). The information we will get from the study will lead to an increased understanding of how work impacts health which we can share with other dental professionals to help them deal with the demands of work.