The Center for Empirical Educational Research designed the seminar “Live Better! Self-Care for Psychosocial Professionals.” The aim of the seminar is to strengthen self-care among professionals in the psychosocial field, thereby preventing the possible consequences of work-related stress, particularly stress and burnout, and promoting mental health.

The seminar concept was evaluated in a large-scale study conducted between late 2013 and mid-2014. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the seminar and to investigate the preventive benefits of self-care. A total of 84 psychosocial professionals took part in the seminar as part of this study. The study results speak for the preventive effectiveness and high benefits and importance of self-care for psychosocial professionals. Among the seminar participants, a reduction in stress levels and the extent of exhaustion was demonstrated, among other things. An improvement in self-care was also evident. Qualitative data show that many of the participants have begun to actively contribute to their own well-being.

Overall, the study provided evidence that self-care could be important, perhaps even central, in the prevention of work-related stress. As the study period lasted three months, the study was initially only able to provide evidence of effectiveness for this medium-term period. In order to gain insight into the long-term effectiveness of the Better Living! seminar, a follow-up survey was conducted in a subsequent study. All former seminar participants were surveyed again approximately three years after the end of the first study, e.g., on their stress levels, the extent of their exhaustion, and their self-care. All positive changes could still be demonstrated even after this long period of time, which speaks for the lasting preventive benefits of the Live Better! seminar.

The study was funded by the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health.