Mandalas as indicators of burnout among end-of-life care workers

Hospice and palliative care workers can reduce the potential for burnout by nurturing self-competence and self-awareness in order to manage challenging and painful emotions that arise from the nature of working with dying individuals and bereaved families. An art therapy supervision programme for end-of-life care workers in Hong Kong utilized mandala-making as a tool for cultivating self-awareness. A total of 60 mandalas were collected, rated according to J. Kellogg’s The Archetypal Stages of the Great Round of Mandalas and compared to burnout scores as assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey. The findings demonstrate associations between mandala stages and burnout and offer implications for mandala-making as an indicator of burnout and coping strategies.