NCT03923452

Mindfulness Training for Older Adult Canadian Immigrants

Mindfulness Training for Low-Income Older Adult Canadian Immigrants

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (actual)
• Sponsor: Toronto Metropolitan University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will evaluate whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a viable community program for enhancing wellbeing among older adult immigrants from low income neighborhoods. Half of the sample will be randomized to receive the 9-week mindfulness program and the other half will be randomized to a wait list control condition. Primary outcomes of interest will include perceived stress and self-report depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes will include trait mindfulness and self-care, self-compassion, emotion regulations, and attentional skills. Participants will also be invited to engage in a 30-minute interview to discuss their lived experience as an immigrant in Canada and their experience in the MBSR program. Due to COVID-19, all sessions will be held virtually.

Detailed description

Adults aged 65 years and older are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population. In the 2006 Census, 43% of older adults in Ontario identified as being a Canadian immigrant, a statistic which continues to grow in the context of an aging population. Aging is commonly associated with declines in physical and cognitive capacity, which is significantly accelerated by chronic perceived stress. Lower income older adults are particularly vulnerable to accelerated aging and disease onset due to the stress of economic insecurity. In 2012, the highest low-income rates in Canada were reported among immigrants 65 years of age and older. Accordingly, it is important to investigate programs that can support the wellbeing of aging Canadian immigrants. The principal investigator (PI) and her research team will conduct a one-factor between-subjects design with two conditions - a mindfulness-based intervention and a waitlist control - to examine the benefits of mindfulness training on indices of wellbeing, including perceived stress, depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, self-compassion and self care. It is hypothesized that mindfulness training will enhance indices of wellbeing compared to a wait-list control. Employing a mixed-methods approach, participants will also engage in a qualitative interviews to provide insight into the lived experience and how mindfulness may serve Canadian immigrants.

Conditions

• Stress

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction	Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a manualized mindfulness training protocol that has been researched for over 20 years. The original protocol will be used, with the exception of the prescribed home practice duration (i.e. 30 mins of practice). Rather, the program will be modified to set up participants for success by providing them with instruction to "build" on their meditation practice, beginning with 8 minutes a day.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-06-30
• Primary completion: 2023-04-30
• Completion: 2023-04-30
• First posted: 2019-04-22
• Last updated: 2025-06-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada