Clinical Research Directory

PACE Study: School-Based Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions for Children

This study aims to evaluate the effects of three school-based interventions focused on mindfulness, compassion, and social-emotional learning on children's psychological well-being and higher-order cognitive functions. The interventions are delivered in the classroom through structured experiential activities. Children are assessed before and after the interventions using standardized tests and questionnaires measuring attention, executive functions, emotional regulation, mindfulness, self-compassion, and social-emotional skills.

The Effect of Theory-based Education on Cultural Sensitivity and Compassion

Strengthening cultural sensitivity and compassion plays a critical role in reducing health inequalities, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. This study is designed to determine the effect of an educational program based on the Theory of Planned Behavior on the cultural sensitivity and compassion levels of nursing students. The study, planned as a parallel-group, single-blind, randomized pre-test-post-test controlled experimental design, will include a total of 80 students, with 40 students in each group. The intervention group will receive an educational program based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, in modules over four weeks. Data will be analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 27.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA).

Preparing for Eating Disorders Treatment Through Compassionate Letter-Writing

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) seeks to lower shame and help people develop compassion for personal distress and shortcomings. There is increasing evidence to support the benefits of incorporating CFT-based interventions into the treatment of eating disorders (EDs). Building on the investigators' prior research, this study will examine the effects of a two-week CFT-based self-compassion letter-writing intervention on patients with eating disorders. Participants will be recruited from the wait-list of patients scheduled to begin treatment at the outpatient St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Eating Disorders Program, and will be randomly assigned to the two-week letter-writing intervention or to a control group. Results will inform the integration of new empirically-derived interventions into ED treatments to improve the currently dismal rates of ED recovery.

The Effect of Compassionate Care Education on Nurses

Compassion is an important concept underlying relationships between people. Compassion is a complex, multifaceted psychological and social process. Professional values form the basis of nursing care. The concept of compassion is one of these professional values, as well as one of the essential components of care that facilitates nursing care. Compassion-based care provides patient-centered care with a holistic approach while increasing the quality of care. Despite this importance, many healthcare professionals remain inadequate regarding compassionate care. The idea that compassion is innate or learned in people causes various difficulties in teaching compassion. Compassionate care is an emotion that can be taught and developed with innovative interactive methods along with developing technology. Methods such as video-supported teaching and case analysis, which are widely used in nursing education, contribute to developing cognitive and affective skills such as interpretation, critical thinking, and problem-solving in nurses. In this context, it is aimed to implement compassionate care training, developed based on Watson's Human Caring Model, on nurses by enriching it with video-supported teaching and case analysis methods, and to evaluate the effect of this training on nurses' compassion levels and caring behaviors.

Contemplative Practice for Well-being and Self-Deconstruction in Women

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a contemplative practice called Feeding Your Demons (FYD), based on a secular adaptation of Tibetan Buddhism, in improving psychological well-being, body image, body acceptance, compassion, and self-deconstruction in adult women. Participants will be randomly assigned to either FYD or an active control group practicing mindfulness meditation. Psychological variables will be assessed before and after the intervention, and at a six-month follow-up. Additionally, a qualitative exploration will be conducted through interviews with a subgroup of participants.

Improving Social Climate in Secure Settings With a Compassion Focused Staff Intervention

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a Compassion Focused Staff Support (CFSS) intervention in improving the social climate of correctional and forensic psychiatric institutions. The intervention is based on Compassion Focused Therapy and designed to support staff in managing stress, enhancing affect regulation, and strengthening compassion toward self and others. Three institutional units are included in the study. One unit is randomly selected to receive the full CFSS intervention, including a half-day introductory workshop and monthly staff support sessions over six months. A second unit serves as a control group and receives no intervention. A third unit receives only the initial workshop without follow-up sessions. The effect of the intervention is evaluated using a pre-test/post-test design. Outcomes include changes in staff-reported and client-reported social climate, assessed with validated questionnaires, as well as institutional data on critical incidents. The study aims to improve working conditions in secure settings and foster more compassionate, effective staff-client interactions.

Examination of a Self-Compassion Course for Healthcare Providers Working With People With Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical staff working with people with multiple sclerosis often face emotional fatigue and high levels of burnout. The Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course is an evidence-based intervention that teaches participants how to meet distress with kindness and care. This study will recruit up to 40 staff from the Barlo MS Clinic at St. Michael's Hospital to take part in a 6-week, 6-session Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities course. Participants will be asked to complete surveys before and after the course to understand the effects of the course on a range of outcomes. Participants will be invited to take part in one qualitative interview on their perspectives on the course.

Mindfulness and Compassion Program for the Improvement of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, Academic Performance and School Climate in Students in the Last Cycle of Primary Education.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a Mindfulness and Compassion program to improve emotional and behavioral problems, academic performance and school climate of students in the last cycle of Primary Education. Participants will be randomly assigned to the Cuida2 program or to an active control group practicing relaxation. The different variables studied will be evaluated before and after the intervention, and at a three months follow-up. These evaluations will be carried out by the students and their families. In addition, a qualitative exploration will be carried out at the end of the programs, also including the teachers' perceptions.

Analysis of COMPASsion and Humanisation of Adolescents Facing the End-of-life Processes.

The investigators want to work on compassion, understood as the recognition of the suffering of others that motivates us to try to alleviate it. The goal of this Multicenter project, with a mixed sequential transformative methodology, is to analyze the impact of a participatory process of awareness and reflection on compassion, in the face of end-of-life processes, in adolescents aged 12-23 years in 6 Spanish provinces, and to understand how the participatory process can transform and improve their compassion. As the adolescents must be the protagonists of change, the study will be conducted with students enrolled in one public secondary school and in one degree in a public University, that belongs to the same "health area" in each province. The investigators also include families' and teachers' knowledge of the context because it can support the interventions of change proposals. Compassion will be assessed using the Compassion for the Lives of Others Scale (COOLS), comprising 26 items. Similarly, adolescents' attitudes toward death are another important concept and will be explored through the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), which has 15 questions. Both scales will be distributed to the adolescents, requesting their permission anonymously. After the survey, a second phase will start with a Participatory Action Research (PAR) with different activities. The objective is to generate awareness of the need to improve it, allowing the participants to design the interventions, based on evidence-based proposals (cinema forum, colloquiums with testimonies of volunteers accompanying palliative patients, organization of Death Cafe, artistic and literary activities, generation of grief groups, etc.). At the end of the project, the investigators will evaluate the adolescent compassion level and create discussion groups again to understand the impact of the interventions. With this project, the investigators will empower new generations of people to encourage, facilitate, support, and celebrate mutual care and family and community development in end-of-life processes. The translation and implications of the results for clinical practice will contribute to reducing inequalities in health research in a vulnerable group of special interest, especially when treatments can do nothing for their survival but with interventions such as those in this study, the investigators can ensure quality and dignity of life as long as there is life.

Electrocoagulation vs. Cold Knife Cutting in Joint Arthroplasty (Electrocoagulation vs Scalpel)

Comparison of clinical outcomes of electrocoagulation and non-electrocoagulation techniques in total hip and knee arthroplasty surgery

Compassion-Based Intervention for Lung Cancer Caregivers (CBI-LCC)

Objectives: This 3-year study aims to develop, refine, and evaluate a brief compassion-based intervention specifically designed for family caregivers of lung cancer patients. In the first year, the primary focus will be on developing the intervention content and assessing its feasibility and acceptability. In the second and third years, the goal will be to assess the intervention's effects on depression and anxiety. Method: In the first year, the intervention will be developed in three stages. Initially, the intervention will be created based on compassion-focused theory and evidence-based exercises, incorporating feedback from family caregivers in previous studies and insights from professionals to ensure its relevance to lung cancer caregivers. Next, a pilot study will test the intervention's feasibility and acceptability with 30 family caregivers, using mixed methods to gather session-by-session feedback and assess recruitment, retention, and adherence. Following the pilot, the intervention will be revised based on participant and researcher feedback, preparing it for further study. In the second and third years, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted with 84 participants randomly assigned to either the 4-session Brief Compassion-Based Intervention (BCI) or a single-session Telephone-Based Support and Education (TSE) control group. Outcomes, including depression, anxiety, caregiver stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, and self-efficacy, will be measured at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. For data analysis, long-term follow-up quantitative data will be analyzed using the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) to examine group differences. Moderation and mediation analyses will be conducted to explore potential moderators and mechanisms of the intervention. Qualitative data from interviews will be analyzed using content analysis. Expected Results: This study is expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of compassion-based interventions for lung cancer caregivers, contributing to their application in clinical care practice.

A Randomized Controlled Evaluation of a Compassion-course for Healthcare Professionals

The aim is to investigate whether an internet-based compassion course of five modules contributes to reducing stress of conscience and work-related stress, increase the experience of professional quality of life and self-compassion in healthcare professionals.

Effect of Reflective Thinking Method on Ethical Decision Making, Professional Values and Compassion Level

This randomized controlled study aimed to determine the effect of the reflective thinking method used in ethics education on ethical decision making, professional values, and compassion levels in nursing students.The hypotheses of the study are as follows: H1.1. There is a difference in ethical decision-making average scores between students who were applied the reflection method in ethics education and students in the control group. H1.2. There is a difference in professional values average scores between students who were applied the reflection method in ethics education and students in the control group. H1.3. There is a difference in compassion average scores between students who were applied the reflection method in ethics education and students in the control group.

Exploring Empathy and Compassion Using Digital Narratives

Stories of suffering and struggle are shared continuously through digital formats such as internet videos, news stories, social marketing, and fundraising campaigns. Digital stories are often created and shared to generate awareness about a problem, impart knowledge on contemporary issues, or promote compassion. The practice of sharing critical life events and insights provided by these experiences are valuable for tellers and the listeners alike for catharsis, healing, reconciliation, and connectiveness. Portrayals of mental suffering are a matter of cultural and social interest as new media products become available to the public. Studies published since the 1990s overwhelmingly conclude that formal media depictions are biased, promoting the stereotype that people who suffer emotionally are mentally ill, dangerous, violent, or insane. Various agencies, organizations, and corporations are actively working to provide alternative stories/narratives to mainstream media by means of video testimonials in social marketing and fundraising campaigns and, ultimately, by taking advantage of the Internet. The impact of this work is under-researched. However, preliminary evaluations of social marketing campaigns report mixed results and raise questions about their effectiveness. As well, the first-person narrative prepared digitally and shared online is also providing alternative narratives to mainstream media stories. People are increasingly using digital videos to share their stories, viewing this as an opportunity to understand their emotions and thoughts, come to terms with disgrace around sensitive, personal issues and marginalization while providing hope and encouragement to others. This proposed study focuses on the process of creating digital narratives/stories, especially stories of mental and emotional suffering, and their impact in terms of inciting empathy, compassion, and good citizenship among viewers.