ABSTRACT
Methods: Reiki Medic-Care is a non-profit organization that provides remote Reiki to National Health Service healthcare professionals in the UK. Healthcare professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses) negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic were eligible to sign up for the Reiki program and were invited to participate in the research study. Each participant was assigned eight Reiki practitioners who gave them remote Reiki for 20 minutes for four consecutive days. Participants' stress, anxiety, pain, sleep quality and overall wellbeing were evaluated with 7-point numerical rating scales based on the Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile-based questionnaire. Measures were completed online when signing up to receive Reiki (pre) and following the final Reiki session (post). Pre and post data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed ranks tests. Results: Seventy-nine healthcare professionals agreed to be in the study and provided baseline survey data (pre), and N = 40 participants completed both pre and post. Participants were 97% female and mean age was 43.9 years old (21-64 years). Healthcare professional participants included nurses (n = 15;37%), physicians (n = 14;35%), and other clinical staff such as therapists or patient care assistants (n = 11;28%). Statistically significant improvements in stress (p < .001, d = .634), anxiety (p < .001, d = .698), pain (p < .001, d = .630), wellbeing (p < .001, d = .578), and sleep (p = .019, d = .371) were observed from pre to post. Background: To conduct a pragmatic effectiveness trial of a Reiki program for healthcare professionals who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The Reiki program for healthcare professionals demonstrates preliminary effectiveness for improving stress, anxiety, pain, wellbeing, and sleep in frontline healthcare workers in the UK impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research will include a larger sample size and longterm follow-up.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To conduct a pragmatic effectiveness trial of a Reiki program for healthcare professionals negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Reiki Medic-Care is a non-profit organization that provides remote Reiki to National Health Service (NHS) healthcare professionals in the UK. Healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, and ambulance paramedics) whose physical and/or mental health had been negatively impacted by COVID-19 were eligible to sign up for the Reiki program and were also invited to participate in the research study. Each participant was assigned eight certified, licensed, and fully insured Reiki practitioners who gave them 20 minutes of remote Reiki for four consecutive days. Participants' stress, anxiety, pain, sleep quality and overall wellbeing were evaluated with 7-point numerical rating scales based on the Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile-based (MYMOP) questionnaire. Measures were completed by participants online when signing up to receive Reiki (pre) and the day following the final Reiki session (post). Participants were also asked to give written feedback about the sessions at post. Results: Twenty healthcare professionals agreed to be in the study and provided some survey data (pre or post), and of those, seventeen participants completed both the pre and post survey (85% retention). All participants were female. Paired samples t-tests revealed statistically significant improvements in stress (p=.001, d=1.06), anxiety (p=.001, d=.94), pain (p=.003, d=.86), and wellbeing (p=.029, d=.61) from pre to post. There were no significant differences in sleep quality (p=.150, d=.37). Participants also provided positive feedback about the program, including feeling more relaxed, calm, and resilient. Conclusion: The Reiki program for healthcare professionals demonstrates preliminary effectiveness for improving stress, anxiety, pain and wellbeing in frontline healthcare workers negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection is ongoing, and future research will include a larger sample size and long-term follow-up.