Exercise Apps Boost the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers

According to new University of British Columbia research, simple home workouts utilizing exercise apps can effectively lower depressed symptoms among healthcare professionals and could be a major asset in combating the sector’s global mental health epidemic.

The study, published today in JAMA Psychiatry, separated individuals into two groups: those on the waiting list and those who received free access to a suite of home exercise programs called DownDog, which includes yoga, cardio, and strength training. Over a 12-week period, they were instructed to aim for at least 80 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week.

“The exercise group reported significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to the control group as the study progressed,” said first author Dr. Vincent Gosselin-Boucher, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s school of kinesiology. “The majority of the participants in the study started very high on the scale for depressive symptoms compared to the general population so the changes were actually quite amazing to see.”

The favorable effects were particularly noticeable among people who did at least 80 minutes of exercise each week on average.

In addition to depressive symptoms, the researchers examined burnout symptoms and sick days two weeks before the start of the study, and every two weeks throughout the trial, while the exercise apps tracked individuals’ exercises.

Exercise reduced two measurable aspects of burnout: cynicism and emotional weariness. In addition, the exercise group reported fewer ill days than the control group.

Increasing physical activity to improve mental health

While earlier research has shown that exercise can help depressed symptoms, researchers noted behavioral techniques such as exercise were lacking in the mental health programs offered by healthcare institutions around the world to address the toll of covid-19 on their employees’ mental health.

“Our study provides the first evidence that working out at home using exercise apps, even with limited equipment, can significantly enhance the mental health of healthcare workers,” said lead author Dr. Eli Puterman, an associate professor at UBC’s school of kinesiology and Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Health.

“The past three years have been incredibly difficult for healthcare workers. Offering accessible, easy ways to exercise could be a great tool for employers to support their staff’s mental well-being, in addition to the institutional, provincial, and federal measures currently being undertaken to reduce healthcare workers’ burnout, sick leave and resignations.”

The study was conducted in partnership with Providence Health Care, and participants were recruited from acute and long-term care hospitals in Vancouver, British Columbia. The majority of participants were female nurses.

The study provides a welcome, preventative approach to mental health care, according to study co-investigator Agnes Black, director of Health Services and Clinical Research and Knowledge Translation at Providence Health Care.

“We recognize the incredible stress healthcare workers have endured during the pandemic and amid ongoing staff shortages. This is a really innovative and low-cost way to have a positive impact by putting our money upstream, before people are in crisis, are burnt out and have to call in sick. It’s a way to say, ‘We want to make it super easy for you to fit exercise into your day so you can stay physically and mentally healthy as you continue your vital work.’”

Making exercise a habit

The study discovered that convincing participants to stay to the program was a major challenge: between week two and week twelve, adherence to the necessary 80 minutes of activity per week plummeted to 23% of participants, from 54%.

The researchers intend to investigate whether offering motivational support, such as fitness instructors, can foster the exercise habit in the future.

“We also hope to do longer-term trials to focus on the broader mental, physical and economic impacts of this type of intervention,” said Dr. Puterman.

He advises healthcare organizations to consider additional strategies to encourage healthcare professionals to be more physically active, such as providing free gym memberships, walk breaks at work, or staff exercise areas within hospitals.

“While our findings underscore the potential of low-barrier interventions like offering exercise apps, we also have to figure out and address factors that prevent healthcare workers from exercising. Whether these are work-related stressors or other factors, we need to support healthcare workers on multiple fronts.”

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