Effectiveness of a Multi-Modal Workplace Rest Cabin on Worker Well-Being

NCT ID: NCT07322354

Last Updated: 2026-01-08

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 82 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-05-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-04-10

Brief Summary

This study examines whether access to a rest cabin in the workplace supports employee well-being. Employees of a Canadian insurance company are randomly assigned to one of two groups: immediate access to the rest cabin or a waiting-list control group that receives access after one month. The rest cabin is installed directly in the workplace and can be reserved for short sessions during the workday. It offers multiple relaxation options, including guided meditation, massage therapy, light therapy, and a zero-gravity chair. Employees choose which options to use during each session. Participants complete questionnaires before group assignment and again one month later. Employees who receive immediate access to the cabin also complete additional follow-up questionnaires at later time points. The study compares changes in general well-being and work-related outcomes between employees who have access to the cabin and those who do not during the initial study period.

Detailed Description

This pragmatic randomized controlled trial evaluates the effects of a multi-modal rest cabin on general and work-related well-being among employees of a Canadian insurance company. The study takes place in real-world workplace settings across multiple office locations. After providing informed consent, participants complete a baseline survey assessing general well-being and work-related outcomes. Participants are then randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) immediate access to the rest cabin or (2) a waiting-list control condition with delayed access. Employees assigned to the immediate-access group are encouraged to use the rest cabin over a four-week period. Cabin sessions are self-scheduled during work hours and are designed to be brief. The rest cabin is fully enclosed and located within the workplace. It includes several relaxation modalities, such as guided meditation, massage therapy, light therapy, and a zero-gravity chair. Participants are free to select and combine modalities based on their preferences during each session. Participants in both the immediate-access group and the waiting-list control group complete a follow-up survey one month after the baseline assessment. To examine whether any observed changes are maintained over time, participants in the immediate-access group also complete additional follow-up surveys two months and four months after baseline. It is hypothesized that workers in the experimental (vs. control) group would have better changes in scores in their general (positive and negative affect, flourishing, anxiety, depression, mindful attention awareness, insomnia) and workplace (thriving at work, burnout, absenteeism, presenteeism, job satisfaction, psychological detachment from work) positive and negative well-being when comparing Time 1 (follow-up survey) to Time 0 (baseline) (H1). Specific to those in the experimental condition, it is hypothesized that: positive changes observed following cabin use (at Time 1) would remain evident at the subsequent follow-up timepoints (Times 2 and 3), relative to baseline (H2), and changes in well-being outcomes between Time 1 and Time 0 would be greater for those who have used the cabin more often (H3). It is also hypothesized that: 4) the change in outcomes between T1 and T0 associated with being in the experimental (vs. control) condition (as discussed in H1) would be mediated by changes in psychological detachment from work and mindfulness awareness (H4), and 5) the relationship between cabin use frequency and changes in well-being outcomes (as discussed in H3) would be mediated by changes in psychological detachment and mindfulness awareness (also between T1 and T0; H5).

Conditions

Employee Well-being; Work-related Outcomes

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Rest Cabin Use

Participants are encouraged to use the Recharjme cabin for one month (four weeks) at a frequency of three times a week, preferably between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Recharjme Multi-Modal Rest Cabin

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Enclosed workplace cabin with guided meditation, massage, luminotherapy, and zero-gravity chair.

Waiting List Control

No cabin access for four weeks.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Recharjme Multi-Modal Rest Cabin

Enclosed workplace cabin with guided meditation, massage, luminotherapy, and zero-gravity chair.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Employee of participating insurance company
• Aged 18 or older

Exclusion Criteria

• Mental health leave in past year
• Diagnosed mental health disorder

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Mitacs

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Laval University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Simon Coulombe

Full Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Simon Coulombe, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Laval University

Locations

Worksite 3

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Worksite 3

Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

Worksite 1

Québec, Quebec, Canada

Worksite 2

Québec, Quebec, Canada

Countries

Canada

References

Dagenais-Desmarais, V., & Savoie, A. (2012). What is psychological well-being, really? A grassroots approach from the organizational sciences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(4), 659-684.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Shirom, A., & Melamed, S. (2006). A comparison of the construct validity of two burnout measures in two groups of professionals. International Journal of Stress Management, 13(2), 176-200

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Ipsos. (n.d.). Life in transition survey IV for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Technical report. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. https://www.ebrd.com/content/dam/ebrd_dxp/assets/pdfs/office-of-the-chief-economist/publications/life-in-transition-survey-iv/LITS-IV-Technical-report.pdf

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 3397865 (View on PubMed)

Sonnentag S, Fritz C. The Recovery Experience Questionnaire: development and validation of a measure for assessing recuperation and unwinding from work. J Occup Health Psychol. 2007 Jul;12(3):204-21. doi: 10.1037/1076-8998.12.3.204.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 17638488 (View on PubMed)

Carlson LE, Brown KW. Validation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in a cancer population. J Psychosom Res. 2005 Jan;58(1):29-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2004.04.366.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 15771867 (View on PubMed)

Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D. W., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143-156.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Sassi, N., & Neveu, J. P. (2010). Traduction et validation d'une nouvelle mesure d'épuisement professionnel: Le shirom-melamed burnout measure. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 42(3), 177-184.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Morin CM, Belleville G, Belanger L, Ivers H. The Insomnia Severity Index: psychometric indicators to detect insomnia cases and evaluate treatment response. Sleep. 2011 May 1;34(5):601-8. doi: 10.1093/sleep/34.5.601.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 21532953 (View on PubMed)

Lowe B, Wahl I, Rose M, Spitzer C, Glaesmer H, Wingenfeld K, Schneider A, Brahler E. A 4-item measure of depression and anxiety: validation and standardization of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) in the general population. J Affect Disord. 2010 Apr;122(1-2):86-95. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2009.06.019. Epub 2009 Jul 17.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 19616305 (View on PubMed)

Kessler RC, Barber C, Beck A, Berglund P, Cleary PD, McKenas D, Pronk N, Simon G, Stang P, Ustun TB, Wang P. The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). J Occup Environ Med. 2003 Feb;45(2):156-74. doi: 10.1097/01.jom.0000052967.43131.51.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 12625231 (View on PubMed)

Lam RW, Michalak EE, Yatham LN. A new clinical rating scale for work absence and productivity: validation in patients with major depressive disorder. BMC Psychiatry. 2009 Dec 3;9:78. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-9-78.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 19958540 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2023-2766

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

Recharjme-RCT-2024

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id