Abstract
This study evaluated the effectiveness, change mechanisms, and sustainability of a brief mindfulness intervention for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) delivered in the community through a frontline service over five years. Participants were 126 PwMS. A single intervention condition design was used with pre-intervention, post-intervention and 2-month follow-up assessments. The primary outcome was distress. Secondary outcomes were perceived stress, quality of life (QoL) and fatigue, and the proposed change mechanisms: mindfulness, self-compassion, psychological inflexibility. Intention-to-treat analyses showed the primary outcome, distress (Cohen’s d = .25), and all secondary outcomes improved: perceived stress (d = .38), mental health QoL (d = .39), physical health QoL (d = .47), fatigue (d = .30), mindfulness (d = .29), self-compassion (d = .37), psychological flexibility (d = .44). Distress, stress and perceived stress continued to improve post-intervention to follow-up. Mindfulness emerged as a temporal mediator of perceived stress (BCa 95% CI). Self-compassion mediated concurrent improvements in distress, perceived stress, fatigue and physical health QoL, while greater psychological flexibility mediated concurrent reductions in distress (BCa 95% CI). Mindfulness home practice was unrelated to improvements on all outcomes except a marginal association with mindfulness. Of the socio-demographic and illness factors, lower disease severity predicted improvements in physical health QoL (p = .046). Improvements in outcomes were supported by qualitative feedback and participant satisfaction ratings. Twenty-one groups were offered with good participant engagement and wide geographical reach, suggesting sustained feasibility of the Mindfulness for MS program over five years. Findings support the delivery of the Mindfulness for MS program through a community-based service in partnership with a local university.
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Thanks to MS Queensland for supporting this research; especially the members who participated and staff who supported it (Margaret Hegarty, Tasman Saywell and Karen Quaile).
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As a staff member of The University of Queensland and co-Author of the Mindfulness for MS program, KP receives royalties from UniQuest for commercial (not research) licensing arrangements entered into by third parties who want to deliver the program.
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All research procedures (including informed consent) were in accordance with the ethical standards of The University of Queensland’s ethical clearance research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
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Campbell, M., Pakenham, K.I. Evaluation of a Brief Mindfulness Program for People with Multiple Sclerosis Delivered in the Community Over Five Years. Applied Research Quality Life 17, 1019–1041 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09944-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09944-4