Evaluating Floatation-REST Therapy to Reduce Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Frontline Healthcare and Emergency Workers

What this Trial Is About

Frontline healthcare workers, first responders, and emergency medical personnel often face ongoing stressful and traumatic events that increase the risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms PTSS, burnout, anxiety, and related difficulties. Current stress-reduction methods may lack strong evidence or be challenging to use in fast-paced healthcare settings. This trial explores whether Floatation-REST, a therapy that reduces sensory input by floating in warm, salty water, is feasible, tolerable, and safe for adults with work-related PTSS. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups one group will experience two one-hour sessions of Floatation-REST about seven days apart, floating supine in a shallow pool designed to minimize sensory stimulation. The other group will watch two one-hour documentaries in a relaxing environment on the same schedule. The study aims to compare these two approaches in adults aged 18 to 64 who have PTSS related to their work. Participants will attend two in-person visits including self-report questionnaires, blood and saliva samples, brain imaging scans, and their assigned intervention. Follow-up surveys will be completed virtually up to one week after the final session. Researchers will monitor safety by tracking adverse effects and dropout rates while also exploring changes in stress, anxiety, burnout, mood, mindfulness, moral injury distress, brain connectivity, and biological markers. The total participation time spans from baseline through one week after the intervention.

FLOAT for Healthcare PTSS