An Innovative Approach to Addressing Compassion Fatigue: A Feasibility Study of a Serious Game

Background Compassion fatigue is a significant problem in health care as higher degrees of compassion fatigue are associated with psychical, emotional, and work-related negative outcomes in professionals. Despite the significance of the problem, research has yet to establish how this problem can be ameliorated. Our study aimed at investigating if an educational program including a serious game, could be a feasible avenue to pursue. Method We developed an educational program “The Compassion Equation: Find Your Formula”, inspired by theory and evidence on compassion fatigue and serious games. It consists of a short lecture, a serious board game, as well as group and individual reflections conducted in small groups with colleagues. We examined the feasibility of the educational program by obtaining reports from health care workers employed in psychiatric hospitals. They reported on levels of compassion fatigue, self-care beliefs and behaviors, as well as questions on feasibility of the game. Results A total of 212 health care workers from 12 wards participated in the study. Of these 79% recommend the educational program as a way to prevent compassion fatigue. Less than 20% disagreed with the feasibility of the game being effective. Conclusion Despite methodological issues, our study provides the first suggestion that an educational program with a persuasive game may be feasible to prevent compassion fatigue. Further studies are, however, needed to establish the mechanisms as well as the educational program’s effect on levels of compassion fatigue, and self-care beliefs and behaviors.