Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a professional burnout prevention intervention on a group of social care workers employed in a facility for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). The primary goal of the intervention was to enhance participants' understanding of stress prevention mechanisms and promote well-being in the workplace. Methods: The research involved 10 professionals employed in the facility for at least one year. We divided the participants into two homogeneous groups: an experimental group and a control group. We used a pre- and post-test experimental design. The intervention, delivered monthly to the experimental group by a bioenergetic therapist, included relaxation techniques and support related to stress-inducing situations. The Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ; Santinello, 2007) assessed the dependent variables based on the four burnout dimensions Maslach et al. (1984): psychophysical exhaustion, depersonalization, professional ineffectiveness, and disillusionment. Results: The data collected showed improvements in psychophysical exhaustion, professional ineffectiveness, and disillusionment among participants in the experimental group. However, we did not observe any significant changes in the dimension of depersonalization. Conclusions: The findings suggest that interventions incorporating relaxation and social support techniques may effectively reduce specific dimensions of Burnout among social care workers in SEN settings. Further research is needed to address persistent components such as depersonalization.
Diaferia et al. (Fri,) studied this question.