Time-out with humor—an intervention project for burnout prevention in a family health unit

BackgroundBurnout syndrome, characterized by emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and detachment, affects personal and professional well-being. Humor-based interventions have been explored as strategies to promote psychological resilience.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of a humor-based intervention combined with team-building sessions on burnout levels among professionals in a Family Health Unit.MethodsControlled before-after study in two Family Health Units. The intervention group comprised 6 physicians, 6 nurses and 4 secretaries; the control group 5 physicians, 5 nurses and 4 secretaries. Median age was 47.5 years (IQR 19.25) in the control and 50.0 years (IQR 11.75) in the intervention group; 76.7% were female. At baseline and post-intervention, participants completed the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory-Portuguese version, and the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult. Over one year, intervention group staff participated in weekly humor-viewing sessions and two psychologist-led workshops on communication skills and burnout prevention. The primary outcome was change in burnout across three domains (personal, work-related, patient-related); the secondary outcome was subjective well-being.ResultsA statistically significant between-group difference in patient-related burnout was found at post-intervention: scores increased in the control group and decreased in the intervention group (p = 0.04). Within-group pre-post changes were not statistically significant, and no significant differences were observed in the remaining burnout domains or in well-being.ConclusionsThe intervention was associated with lower patient-related burnout. Despite limitations in sample size and study design, findings suggest potential benefits of humor-based approaches in healthcare.