Global Meditation Practices: A Literature Review

Research has shown that meditation is beneficial for chronic pain, stress, and many physical and mental conditions. The definition of meditation has many forms, is culturally influenced, and is practiced globally. This literature review seeks to report current literature on meditation related to therapeutic outcomes and create a globally informed definition of meditation for health-related purposes. From a western perspective, mindfulness-based stress relief (MBSR) is widely researched. Therefore, 15 studies from peer-reviewed research from 2015 and 2020 were used to examine various forms of meditation and describe a broader range of meditation practices other than MBSR. The different forms of meditation are: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Portugal), Active Engagement (Portugal), Adapted Mindfulness Program (Brazil), Adapted Mindfulness Program (Brazil), Cognitively-based Compassionate Training, Loving-kindness (United States, US), Mantra Meditation (US), Mindfulness-based stress reduction (US), Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (South Korea), Osho (India), Psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology (Italy), Transcendental Meditation (Italy), Spiritual/Secular (US), Sufi (Pakistan), and Vipassana (Australia). The review was completed using a literature search method, and all meditation approaches report positive therapeutic outcomes for all participants (n = 768). This outcome enabled the creation of a broader therapeutic definition of meditation that can be applied in clinical practice.

Efficacy and Feasibility of the Minimal Therapist-Guided Four-Week Online Audio-Based Mindfulness Program 'Mindful Senses' for Burnout and Stress Reduction in Medical Personnel: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Previous online mindfulness-based interventions for burnout and stress reduction in medical personnel had limited effect size and high dropout rate, so we developed a new online mindfulness program 'Mindful Senses (MS)' with aims to increase effect size and lower dropout rate. To test its efficacy and feasibility, ninety medical personnel with moderate or high levels of burnout and stress from across Thailand were recruited and randomly allocated into Group A and Group B equally. Group A read psychological self-help articles (PSA) and attended MS program through smartphone application during weeks 1-4. Group B read PSA during weeks 1-4 and attended MS program during weeks 9-12. Burnout, stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, and quality of life were measured at baseline, week 4, and week 8 for both groups, and at weeks 12 and 16 for Group B. Group x time interaction was analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA. The results showed that, compared to PSA only, MS + PSA had statistically significant improvement of burnout, stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, and quality of life with moderate-to-very large effect sizes at week 4 (d = 1.33, 1.42, 1.04, 1.14, 0.70, and 1.03, respectively) and moderate-to-large effect sizes at week 8 (d = 0.84, 0.98, 0.73, 0.73, 0.66, and 0.94, respectively). The dropout rate was 4.4%. In conclusion, the MS program has potential to be an alternative intervention for medical personnel suffering from burnout and stress.

The Effectiveness and Safety of Mind-Body Modalities for Mental Health of Nurses in Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review

The mental health of nurses including burnout is an important issue. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate whether mind-body modalities improve burnout and other mental health aspects of nurses. A comprehensive search was conducted using six electronic databases. Randomized controlled trials using mind-body modalities on the mental health of nurses, up to January 2021, were included. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Seventeen studies were included in the review. Data on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and yoga were available for burnout, and there was no evidence that multimodal resilience programs including MBIs statistically significantly improved burnout levels compared to no intervention or active control groups. However, one study reported that yoga could significantly improve emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, which are subscales of burnout, compared to usual care. In addition, the effects of MBIs, relaxation, yoga, and music on various mental health outcomes and stress-related symptoms have been reported. In conclusion, there was some evidence that yoga was helpful for improvement in burnout of nurses. However, due to the heterogeneity of interventions and outcomes of the studies included, further high-quality clinical trials are needed on this topic in the future.

Effects of Holy Name Meditation on the Quality of Life of Hospital Middle Manager Nurses in Korea: A 6-Month Follow-Up

BACKGROUND

Nurses experience poor quality of life due to workload and role stress. In this study, a spirituality-based intervention was administered to nurse managers.

METHOD

A total of 45 nurse managers participated in the study; 24 were assigned to the experimental group, and 21 were assigned to a control group. The Holy Name Meditation Program was provided solely to the experimental group. Pretest, posttest 1 (5 weeks after the intervention), posttest 2 (12 weeks after the intervention), and posttest 3 (24 weeks after the intervention) data were gathered on seven variables, including spiritual well-being, spiritual needs, job satisfaction, leadership, burnout, depression, and self-efficacy.

RESULTS

The experimental group showed significant improvement in spiritual well-being (p < .001), spiritual needs (p = .029), and job satisfaction (p = .005) until the 24-week follow-up. Burnout (p < .001), depression and anxiety (p = .034), and self-efficacy (p = .024) showed significant improvement until the 12-week follow-up. Depression and anxiety (p = .053) showed decreasing tendency until the 24-week follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Evidence suggests this program promotes spiritual and psychosocial well-being of nurse managers. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(5):215-224.].

An Exploratory Study of a 3-Minute Mindfulness Intervention on Compassion Fatigue in Nurses

This study shows that breathing mindfully for 3 minutes over a period of 4 weeks, positively affects compassion fatigue in nurses. A nonrandomized, pre/postintervention study was conducted using a 3-minute attentional breathing intervention. Thirty-two nurses participated over 4 weeks. The intervention demonstrated statistically significant reductions in compassion fatigue measures.

Mindfulness training for healthcare professionals and trainees: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) experience a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms that can affect quality of patient care. Previous meta-analyses exploring mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for HCPs have been limited by their narrow scope regarding intervention type, target population, and/or measures, and reliance on uncontrolled studies; therefore, a more comprehensive and methodologically rigorous examination is warranted. This meta-analysis quantified the effectiveness of MBIs on distress, well-being, physical health, and performance in HCPs and HCPs-in-training.

METHOD

RCTs examining the effect of meditation and MBIs on HCPs and HCPs-in-training were identified and reviewed. Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed risk of bias.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight studies were included in the analyses (n = 2505; 75.88% female). Intervention had a significant moderate effect on anxiety (Hedge's g = 0.47), depression (Hedge's g = 0.41), psychological distress (Hedge's g = 0.46), and stress (Hedge's g = 0.52). Small to moderate effects were also found for burnout (Hedge's g = 0.26) and well-being at post-intervention (Hedge's g = 0.32). Effects were not significant for physical health and performance. Larger intervention effects on overall outcomes were found with HCPs (Hedge's g = 0.52), with Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction intervention (Hedge's g = 0.47), and inactive controls (Hedge's g = 0.36).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest mindfulness-based interventions are effective in reducing distress and improving well-being in HCPs and HCP-ITs. Subgroup analyses suggest the importance of exploring potential participants' needs prior to selecting the type of mindfulness intervention. Future studies should assess changes in mindfulness and include active controls.

Lessons for the Health-care Practitioner from Buddhism

From its earliest days, Buddhism has been closely intertwined with the practice of medicine, both being concerned in their own way in the alleviation and prevention of human suffering. However, while the connection between Buddhism and healthcare has long been noted, there is scarce literature on how Buddhist philosophy can guide health-care practitioners in their professional as well as personal lives. In the sutras, we find analogies that describe the Buddha as a doctor, knowledge of Dharma as the treatment, and all lay people as patients. The occurrence of disease is closely related to one's mental, physical and spiritual health, society, culture, and environment. It is not enough to approach medicine in a manner that simply eradicates symptoms; the psychosocial aspects of disease and its mind based causes and remedies must be a primary consideration. Holistic care involves harmonization of all these elements, and the Buddhist philosophy offers great insight for the physician. The Buddhist medical literature lays out moral guidelines and ethics for a health-care practitioner and this has corollaries in the principles of medical ethics: nonmaleficence, benevolence, justice, and autonomy. There is emphasis on loving-kindness, compassion, empathy, and equanimity as key attributes of an ideal physician. The practice of medicine is a stressful profession with physician burnout an often neglected problem. Mindfulness meditation, as developed in Buddhism, can help health-care professionals cope up with the stress and develop the essential attributes to improve patient care and self-care. This article outlines the spiritual and ethical values which underlie Buddhist concern for the sick and gives an overview of lessons which health-care practitioners can imbibe from Buddhism.