Rao and Kemper examined the impact of 3 types of online, brief meditation training for health professionals on measures of gratitude, well-being, self-compassion and confidence in providing compassionate care.1 The 177 participants included practitioners from diverse healthcare professionals including nurses, physicians, social workers, occupational and physical therapists and others. Participants were provided with 1 hour online modules on Gratitude-focused Meditation, Positive- or Sacred-Word-focused Meditation and Loving-kindness/Compassion-focused Meditation. Modules contained descriptions of each meditation technique, reviews of available scientific evidence regarding each approach, links to guided practices to encourage experiential learning, suggestions for incorporating each technique into clinical practice and pre- and post-module self-reflection exercises. Each module took approximately 1 hour to complete and was approved for continuing education credit.
The “Gratitude-focused Meditation” module invited participants to complete the 6-item Gratitude Questionnaire before and after module completion. The “Positive- or Sacred-Word-focused Meditation” unit asked participants to complete the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being index before and after course completion. The “Loving-kindness/Compassion-focused Meditation” unit asked participants to complete the short form of the Self-Compassion Scale.
Comparing responses on pre- and post-training measures, brief meditation training was associated with statistically significant improvements in gratitude, well-being, self-compassion and confidence in providing compassionate care (P < .001 for all comparisons). Authors conclude brief, online training in positive-emotion-generating meditation practices can immediately promote increases in gratitude, well-being, self-compassion and confidence in providing compassionate care among healthcare professionals. Authors identify the need for further research to examine whether improvements in positive emotions resulting from meditation training translate into reduced clinician burnout and improved patient outcomes. They suggest future studies are needed to examine the impact of various “doses” of mind-body skills training. Studies with additional long term follow-up are necessary to determine if improvements can be sustained over time.
1Rao N, Kenoer KJ. Online Training in Specific Meditation Practices Improves Gratitude, Well-Being, Self-Compassion, and Confidence in Providing Compassionate Care Among Health Professionals. J Evid Basd Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Apr; 22(2): 237–241.