Abstract
PURPOSE General practitioners (GPs) occupy a central position in health care and often have demanding working situations. This corps shows signs of exhaustion, and many consider quitting their job or plan to retire early. It is therefore urgent to find ways of improving GP’s satisfaction with their work. One approach might be Balint group participation. The aim of this study was to explore GPs’ experience of participating in Balint groups and its influence on their work life.
METHODS We conducted a descriptive, qualitative study. Nine GPs who had participated in Balint groups for 3 to 15 years were interviewed. A phenomenologic analysis was carried out to describe the phenomenon of Balint group participation.
RESULTS The GPs perceived that their Balint group participation influenced their work life. Analyses revealed several interrelating themes: competence, professional identity, and a sense of security, which increased through parallel processes, creating a base of endurance and satisfaction, thus enabling the GPs to rediscover the joy of being a physician.
CONCLUSIONS The GPs in this study described their Balint group participation as beneficial and essential to their work life as physicians in several ways. It seemed to increase their competence in patient encounters and enabled them to endure in their job and find joy and challenge in their relationships with patients. Balint groups might thus help GPs handle a demanding work life and prevent burnout. These groups might not suit all GPs, however, and additional ways to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction should be offered.
- Balint group
- physician-patient relationship
- work environment
- job satisfaction
- burnout
- patient-centered care
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Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: none reported
Funding support: Grants were received from the Health Research Council in the South-East of Sweden (FORSS), the Academy for Healthcare, Jönköping County Council (FUTURUM), and the Research and Development Unit for the Elderly (ÄNV), Northwest Stockholm County Council.
Prior presentations: 2nd International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, Bruges, Belgium (Balint Training Makes GPs Thrive Better in Their Job), 2004; 14th International Balint Congress, Stockholm, Sweden (The Tale of a PhD on Balint Groups, Part 4), 2005; and 4th Nordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Qualitative Methods, Växjö, Sweden (Satisfaction and Sense of Security) and Uppsala University thesis (The Doctor, the Task and the Group—Balint Groups as a Means of Developing New Understanding in the Physician-Patient Relationship), 2006.
- Received for publication June 12, 2007.
- Revision received September 10, 2007.
- Accepted for publication October 8, 2007.
- © 2008 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.