FLOAT for Healthcare PTSS

Frontline healthcare workers, first responders, and emergency medical personnel arerepeatedly exposed to occupational stressors and potentially traumatic events, placingthem at elevated risk for post‐traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), burnout, anxiety, andrelated impairments. Current stress‐reduction approaches for healthcare workers oftenhave limited evidence for efficacy or may be difficult to implement in high‐demandemergency and healthcare settings. Therefore, rapid, low‐burden interventions that arefeasible, tolerable, and safe for this population are needed.Floatation‐REST, or Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy, is a non‐pharmacologicalintervention that reduces sensory input to the nervous system through the act of floatingsupine in a pool of warm water saturated with Epsom salt. The float environment isdesigned to reduce visual, auditory, thermal, tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptivestimulation. Prior studies suggest that Floatation‐REST may acutely reduce stress andanxiety‐related symptoms, but it has not yet been systematically evaluated in frontlinehealthcare workers with elevated PTSS.This single‐site, double‐arm pilot study will examine the feasibility, tolerability, andsafety of two 60‐minute sessions of Floatation‐REST compared with a documentary‐viewingcondition in adults ages 18 to 64 with work‐related post‐traumatic stress symptoms. Up to30 participants will be recruited, with the goal of retaining 15 completers randomized ona 2:1 basis to Floatation‐REST versus comparator condition. Participants will completetwo in‐person study visits at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, includingself‐report questionnaires, blood and saliva collection, functional magnetic resonanceimaging scans, and either Floatation‐REST or documentary viewing. Follow‐up surveys willbe completed virtually up to one week after final intervention session.The primary aim is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of Floatation‐REST in thispopulation. Secondary aims will explore whether Floatation‐REST is associated with acutechanges in PTSS, perceived stress, anxiety, burnout, mood, mindfulness, and moralinjury‐related distress. Exploratory aims will examine whether changes in brain networkconnectivity, salivary cortisol, and blood‐based proteomic markers may help explainsymptom change. Results from this early‐stage study will help determine whetherFloatation‐REST should be further studied as a potential intervention for post‐traumaticstress symptoms in frontline healthcare and emergency personnel.