JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Burnout and poor wellbeing are serious problems in workforce all over the world. Especially in academia, high pressure is evident. Therefore, addressing burnout is essential for enhancing academic staff wellbeing. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) which aims to enhance psychological flexibility skills comprising present moment awareness, value-based actions and differentiation of thoughts from self has been found to be a promising aspect to enhance workers wellbeing and work satisfaction.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was first to develop and describe our ACT-based WELLS course aiming to support academic staff wellbeing and working life skills offered to academic staff. The aim is secondly, to report the mixed-method study design protocol to explore the participants experiences of the effects of the course.

Methods:

We will conduct a single-arm, nonrandomized, and mixed-methods study with baseline, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up assessments. We will use an explanatory sequential design in which qualitative data is used to explain and deepen the quantitative findings. The quantitative part of the study aims to recruit 300 participants from the University of Helsinki. Questionnaire data will be collected from the participants three times: in the beginning, at the end and 6 months after the course for wellbeing related measures such as burnout, working life skills such as time management and psychological flexibility. The participants will be clustered based on their initial burnout risk score using Latent profile analysis. Differences in participants dropout, participation form and changes in wellbeing and working life skills during the course will be analysed with mixed ANOVA. Qualitative data is collected from reflective journals written at the end of the course, participants’ written goal statements, as well as interviews among willing participants. Reflective journals will be analysed with qualitative content analysis and interviews will be analysed using Thematic Analysis.

Results:

As of March 2026, a total of 265 participants had enrolled to the course and given their consent to participate the research. The current data is being analysed, and results are expected to be published in the late 2026 or early 2027.

Conclusions:

If the intervention proves successful, it may serve as an important tool for improving academics’ well-being and working life skills and engagement by understanding how this intervention can help academic staff members with different initial burnout levels. In addition, it can help to understand and solve individual challenges related to wellbeing in the academic workplace. Clinical Trial: -