Mindfulness and burn-out

Abstract

The present study focused on the employees with burnout history in Belgium to investigate their experiences of returning to work after burnout and to examine how mindfulness practices can support them during the reintegration period. The aim of this study was to explain how mindfulness practices can support employees in Belgium to return to work after sick leave due to burnout by conducting a qualitative study and giving voice to the employees with burnout experience. This study contributes to the scare literature linking RTW after burnout and mindfulness as only few studies have linked mindfulness with the factors associated with RTW after sick leave due to burnout. The current study found that recovery from burnout is a complex and long-term process that continues after returning back to work. The findings of the present study suggest that as the participants lacked the support from their workplaces during the recovery and RTW process, organizations should support them more during this challenging process, given the difficulties recovering from burnout and the changes that they encounter upon returning which is decreased work engagement and motivation. This study suggests mindfulness practices as one of the support mechanisms for the workplaces, since all of the participants of this study indicated the positive influence of mindfulness practices on their wellbeing.