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Cognitive flow in health care settings: A systematic review
Author(s) -
McQueen Sydney,
Jiang Stephanie,
McParland Aidan,
Hammond Mobilio Melanie,
Moulton Carolanne
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/medu.14435
Subject(s) - psycinfo , burnout , medline , health care , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , happiness , psychology , population , medicine , medical education , nursing , applied psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , paleontology , environmental health , political science , law , economics , biology , economic growth
The state of cognitive flow, colloquially known as being ‘in the zone’, has been linked with enhanced performance, happiness, career satisfaction and decreased burnout. However, the concept has not been adopted strongly in health care training, continuing professional development, or daily practice. A systematic review with a narrative synthesis was undertaken to map the evidence for flow in health care. Methods A search was conducted in MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and EMBASE in July 2019 and updated in October 2020 for manuscripts discussing flow in all health care disciplines. Articles published between 1806 and 13 October 2020 were included. Two authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts (and subsequently full texts where necessary) for inclusion. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Data were extracted on location, manuscript type, population and context, measures, and key findings. Results A total of 4923 unique abstracts were initially retrieved, and 15 articles were included in the final review. We report on the experience, benefits and strategies to support flow in health care. Flow may benefit providers by enhancing career enjoyment, wellness and performance, while mitigating exhaustion, burnout, and stress. Although research from other domains has focused on supporting flow through individualised training, our results highlight the importance of system and environmental factors. Conclusions Supporting professional and trainee flow in health care requires a holistic approach, including individual training and system‐level interventions.