Integrative Medicine for Hospital Workers Exposed to War

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Anxiety
• Interventions: Other: Integrative medicine

• Registration Number: NCT06190964
• Lead Sponsor: Bnai Zion Medical Center

Brief Summary

During the "Iron Swords" war in Israel in 2023, the residents of the Gaza Strip and the surrounding area, along with the soldiers of the security service, were exposed to a very high intensity of trauma. Added to this is an extensive cycle of trauma for those who were directly and indirectly exposed to loss and terror throughout the country. Medical teams in the hospitals and in the community were exposed with the highest intensity to these traumatic aspects which were amplified by the collapse of many of the resilience and mental health centers in the south.

An integrative medicine treatment clinic was established at the Bnai Zion Medical Center for the purpose of providing a response to all hospital employees who are exposed and will be exposed (directly or indirectly) to the wounded and patients expressing trauma, including symptoms of acute stress disorder, as a result of war and terrorism. Hospital employees are invited to register for complementary medicine treatments on the hospital's website according to indications that include anxiety, emotional distress and/or typical Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) symptoms, including physical distress (such as pain, breathing disorder, digestive system symptoms, exhaustion, etc.). The employees are treated by a team from the system for integrative medicine, including practitioners of acupuncture; touch/movement techniques (for example, qigong, reflexology, shiatsu) or mind-body medicine (for example, relaxation and breathing exercises) and may include one or more of the above 3 treatment areas.

In the proposed study, the investigators plan to examine the effect of these treatments on various symptoms experienced by hospital employees during this period.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-10-21
• Status Verified: 2023-12
• Study First Submitted: 2023-12-20
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-12-20
• Study First Posted: 2024-01-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-01-08
• Last Update Posted: 2024-01-10
• Primary Completion: 2024-12-31
• Study Completion: 2024-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 500

Inclusion Criteria

• Hospital employees
• Anxiety, emotional distress and/or typical ASD symptoms directly or indirectly related to exposure to the trauma of terrorism or war

Exclusion Criteria

• None

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Integrative medicine	Integrative medicine	The employees are treated by a team from the system for integrative medicine, including practitioners of acupuncture; touch/movement techniques (for example, qigong, reflexology, shiatsu) or mind-body medicine (for example, relaxation and breathing exercises) and may include one or more of the above 3 treatment areas.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Symptom relief	Before intervention; 24 hours after intervention	Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCAW) questionnaire: minimum value: 0; maximum value: 6; higher score means worse outcome.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Stress and anxiety	Before intervention; 4 to 8 weeks after intervention	Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) questionnaire: minimum value: 0; maximum value: 63; higher score means worse outcome.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Bnai Zion Medical Center; 🇮🇱 Haifa, Israel