Objectives/Goals: Assess wellibeing and burnout among CTSI and affiliate scholars by deeply listening to stressors, supports, and sources of hope via Listening Circles, which served as both a therapeutic intervention and a tool for gathering qualitative data. Methods/Study Population: Listening Circles are facilitated group dialogues eliciting participants’ lived experiences, emotions, and perspectives in an environment that offers psychological safety. Listening Circles were conducted with five CTSI scholar groups (K, T, affiliates) to collect qualitative data and offer therapeutic support. Programs scheduled 60-minute voluntary sessions held via Zoom or in person. Program directors and staff did not attend. Sessions were recorded, and facilitators monitored both discussion and chat. Guidelines were shared in advance and reiterated during sessions. Participants were informed of recording and assured only de-identified, aggregate data would be used. Data were analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic methods by trained qualitative analysts. Results/Anticipated Results: Listening Circles revealed 4 themes: 1) Needs: stability (financial and career), fewer nonessential tasks, time for breaks, opportunities for connection, collaboration, and collegiality, and support for wellbeing, compassion, joy, and permission to care for oneself; 2) Sources of support: connecting with family, friends, colleagues, community, taking breaks, disconnecting from work, and engaging in non-work activity; 3) Resources: Financial support, reducing unnecessary workload, opportunities for connection, and access to well-being resources; and 4) Sources of hope: Family, community, small victories and positive feedback, engagement with science, research progress, and trainees. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Listening Circles fostered scholar connection and community while providing real-time insights into stressors and support systems. Their low-cost, adaptable format enabled responsive programming and may be replicable across CTSIs.
Lamere et al. (2026) studied this question.