At a glance
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Feasibility Study of Compassion Meditation Intervention for Older Veterans in Primary Care With Anxiety or Mood Disorders
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Compassion Meditation (CM) intervention and Healthy Aging Psychoeducation for Anxiety and Mood Disorders. Completed, enrolled 25 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
Some older Veterans with psychological distress may under-utilize mental health services due to perceived stigma of symptom-focused interventions. This study was designed to examine the feasibility of a strengths-based compassion training intervention with Veterans ages \> 55 years with anxiety or depressive symptoms. Although this study was focused on feasibility if successful, this line of research could open the door to a novel and effective treatment that widens acceptance by older Veterans with psychological distress.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
10 weekly 90-minute sessions. Sessions 1-3 assist participants in basic mindfulness breathing practices; sessions 4-8 focus on personal analysis of factors underlying difficulties with compassion for self or others; sessions 9 and 10 review content and assist with relapse prevention. \[These were planned as in-person groups but due to the COVID-19 social distancing requirements that started after initiation of cohort 1, the investigators had to retool the intervention for telehealth delivery.\]
The investigators planned to administer a 10-week psychoeducational in-person group focused on topics in healthy aging to examine its feasibility as a control condition for a subsequent randomized controlled trial. This would include use of an existing library of videotaped community-focused talks, such as increasing happiness, mental resilience and health, nutrition, and physical activity. \[Unfortunately, with the switch to telehealth format necessitated by the COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the consensus of the investigators and staff was that these proved too be too dry/"dull/academic" to be a credible attention control in a telehealth format for the target population.\]