Benefits of Mindfulness Training for Patients With Progressive Cognitive Decline and Their Caregivers

Abstract

New strategies are needed to help people cope with the repercussions of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Patients and caregivers face different challenges, but here we investigated an intervention tailored for this combined population. The program focused on training skills such as attending to the present moment nonjudgmentally, which may help reduce maladaptive emotional responses. Patients participated together with caregivers in weekly group sessions over 8 weeks. An assessment battery was individually administered before and after the program. Pre-post analyses revealed several benefits, including increased quality-of-life ratings, fewer depressive symptoms, and better subjective sleep quality. In addition, participants indicated that they were grateful for the opportunity to learn to apply mindfulness skills and that they would recommend the program to others. In conclusion, mindfulness training can be beneficial for patients and their caregivers, it can be delivered at low-cost to combined groups, and it is worthy of further investigation.

Sleep in caregivers

“…Studies have shown that caregivers can benefit from standard cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) strategies such as sleep restriction [25]. There is also evidence that relaxation and mindfulness training can improve caregiver mood and sleep quality [26,27]. Such interventions are, however, time intensive, difficult to schedule without supplemental respite care, do not address care-receiver precipitants of nighttime awakenings, and treatment providers qualified to teach these techniques are not available in many communities.…”

Factors associated with prolonged length of stay in older patients

“…In addition, communitybased care in the form of home-care and day-care centres can be very useful in supporting working adults who have to balance work commitments with caring for their parents. Caregiverspecific programmes, such as mindfulness training, (41) cognitive behavioural intervention (42) and caregiver support groups, can have significant benefits for reducing stress, improving mood (43) and enhancing quality of life for caregivers.…”

An adapted mindfulness intervention for people with dementia in care homes: feasibility pilot study

“…A randomised controlled trial ( n = 168) published in Spanish showed that combined mindfulness and ‘Kirtan Kriya’ meditation slowed cognitive decline in people with mild to moderate dementia (Quintana‐Hernandez and Montesdeoca, ). Benefits of MBIs on mood, QoL and agitated behaviour have also been noted (Lantz et al ., ; Paller et al ., ). One of these studies, which consisted of adapted mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) with multi‐sensory components, was conducted in a care home context (Lantz et al ., ).…”