Clinical Research Directory

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Program Delivered by Web to Patients During Hospitalization and Caregivers.

Hospitalization is often a traumatic event so stressful for the life of patients. Isolation, loneliness, worries about clinical examinations, results from examinations and final diagnosis, uncertainty about the future are the most common feelings that patients report when during hospitalized for different disease conditions; these feelings are not related to the pathological condition. Also the discomfort of the caregivers is significant, as the necessities and priorities of the family change significantly during the hospitalization of a member (worries about the future, help and support are not enough to sustain the situation, problems with the work schedule ). Nowadays in North American and North European countries, mindfulness practice is offered to patients by multifaith Chaplaincy teams and health-care operators (e.g. physicians, nurses, psychologists), as a way of helping patients come to terms with diagnosis and adjust to their prognosis. To the extent that patients can bear it, instructions are given to keep coming back to the present moment, here and now, to bodily and affective experience, relaxing in it. To that purpose patients are encouraged to accept the situation as it develops, and let go of excessive concerns and unhelpful narratives that undermine the capacity to manage pain, fear and suffering. Moreover, similar programmes are designed for caregivers and the patients' families, aimed at developing their resilience in delivering the support, via face-to-face sessions, and instructions and encouragement for a regular practice at home. In the last years, due to the dramatic emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic, different applications for mindfulness have been realized by specific APPs or web platforms that allow patients to practice mindfulness regularly guided by a physician or an expert in mindfulness: patients can stay at home and mindfulness sessions can be delivered by technological modalities. In different hospitals, protocols have been implemented for the treatment of patients remotely, using specific platforms or APPs. These remote interventions are complementary to the regular face-to-face sessions and they are suitable for most patients and easily applied.