Effects of Mindfulness Based Elder Care (MBEC) on Psychological and Spiritual Well Being
Condition: Mental Health Issue
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study aims to verify the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based elder care (MBEC)
      therapy developed by McBee (2008) in improving the psychological and spiritual well-being of
      seniors with disabilities living in residential long-term care institutions in Taiwan.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background: Existing literature indicates that seniors with disabilities living in long-term
      care institutions are confronted with such issues as changes in their living environment,
      institutionalized living schedules, and reduced social interaction, which may affect their
      mental health and cause spiritual disturbances. In recent years, mindfulness therapy has been
      increasingly proven to effectively improve individuals' mental health and spiritual
      well-being. However, the effectiveness of the therapy for seniors with disabilities admitted
      to residential institutions needs to be further verified by empirical studies.

      Purpose: This study aims to verify the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based elder care
      (MBEC) therapy developed by McBee (2008) in improving the psychological and spiritual
      well-being of seniors with disabilities living in residential long-term care institutions in
      Taiwan.

      Methods: Cluster randomized control trials were used. The subjects enrolled in this study
      were the seniors with disability in the residential long-term care institutions in the
      northern and central part of Taiwan. The inclusion criteria were the seniors with
      disabilities who (1) lived in a care institution for over 3 months; (2) were aged 65 years or
      above; (3) failed to obtain a full score for Barthel Index; (4) were able to communicate in
      Mandarin or Taiwanese; and (5) had no history of mental illness. According to the
      intervention scheme, the experimental group was offered eight 50-minute courses once a week,
      while the control group maintained routine activities. In terms of the evaluation of
      intervention effectiveness, basic data collection tables, mini-mental status examination
      (MMSE), and the Barthel Index were used to collect the information of the included seniors
      with disabilities on basic demography, cognitive function, and ability to perform daily
      activities. The Geriatric Depression Scale-Short-Short Form (GDS-SF), State Trait Anxiety
      Inventory (STAI), Meaning in Life Scale Test (PIL), and Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS)
      were also adopted to understand the included seniors with disabilities depression, anxiety,
      purpose of life, and spiritual well-being. The data were collected four times: before the
      intervention, in the middle of the intervention (the fourth week), at the end of the
      intervention (the eighth week), and the follow-up four weeks after the intervention (the
      twelfth week). The collected data was analyzed by SPSS 22.0. Descriptive statistics and the
      independent samples t-test were used to identify the homogeneity of the two groups, and the
      linear mixed model was used to compare the improvement results of the experimental group
      alone and the two groups at different time points.
    

Intervention name(s): the mindfulness-based elder care (MBEC) therapy
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): According to the mindfulness-based elder care (MBEC) therapy developed by McBee (2008), the experimental group was offered eight 50-minute courses once a week.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: long term care institutions; seniors with disability; mindfulness-based elder care; spiritual well-being