A pilot RCT of a brief mindfulness therapy in secondary care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot randomised feasibility trial of a brief mindfulness-based intervention in a mental health secondary care setting
IRAS ID
145779
Contact name
Lizzie Clark
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 29 days
Research summary
There is a large body of research investigating what effects mindfulness-based interventions have on mental health difficulties. Learning mindfulness is thought to be of benefit to a person’s well-being and experience of mental health symptoms (Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011). As a consequence, mindfulness has been incorporated into a number of therapies, known as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), for a wide range of mental health difficulties (Fuchs, Lee, Roemer & Orsillo, 2013).
However, for an individual to attend a mindfulness-based intervention, they need dedicate a lot of time to attending the therapy group over an eight week period, and must also commit to practicing mindfulness meditation for forty minutes a day, six days a week. In addition, some of the long mindfulness practices may be hard for individuals who are experiencing mental health difficulties to take part in, as they can raise distressing emotions in some people (Finucane & Mercer, 2006). Offering mindfulness-based therapies also involves a commitment from the National Health Service to train teachers to deliver this intervention and to provide room space, and sufficient time for therapists to deliver this eight week therapy (Crank & Kuyken, 2012). As mindfulness can have beneficial effects of mental health when offered in a brief, or self-help format (Thompson et al., 2010; Walker, 2010; Meyers, 2009), it seems pertinent to investigate the feasibility of offering short, or brief mindfulness therapy. Consequently, our research team has developed a brief mindfulness-based intervention, which can be delivered in a secondary care mental health setting. The group will provide participants with a taster of some basic mindfulness skills and has been developed specifically for the needs of people who access secondary care mental health service. We propose to conduct a small scale study to investigate if it is practically feasible to research this brief mindfulness intervention
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1964
Date of REC Opinion
2 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion