Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of an App-Based Meditation Intervention to Improve Firefighter Well-Being During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Firefighters are often exposed to occupational stressors that can result in psychological distress. These occupational stressors have only intensified with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely persist in the post-pandemic world. OBJECTIVE To address occupational stressors confronting firefighters and to improve their well-being, we pilot tested a novel, cost-effective smartphone-based meditation intervention created by Healthy Minds Innovations (Madison, WI) that focused on trainings in mindfulness (awareness) along with practices designed to cultivate positive relationships (connection), insight into the nature of the self (insight), as well as sense of purpose in the context of challenge (purpose) with a sample of professional firefighters from a large metropolitan area in the southwestern United States. METHODS Participants (N = 35) completed the self-guided, 10-unit meditation app over the course of 10 days, with one unit per day. We assessed several aspects of psychological well-being (anxiety, depression, burnout, and negative affect) and an objective indicator of stress-related biology, saliva diurnal cortisol rhythm, before and after use of the meditation app. RESULTS The study demonstrated the meditation app was both feasible and acceptable for use with firefighters. We also found significant reductions in firefighters’ anxiety, burnout, and negative affect, as well as changes in cortisol diurnal rhythm from before to after use of the meditation app. CONCLUSIONS Findings support future research to demonstrate efficacy of this meditation app to improve firefighter well-being.