Mindfulness-based interventions delivered via telehealth in a scalable format can improve pain and overall well-being among veterans with chronic pain , according to new research published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. In a randomized clinical trial, researchers aimed to test the effectiveness of two eight-week telehealth mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) designed to be scalable and widely implemented in healthcare systems. MBIs help people pay attention non-judgmentally in the present moment and often involve practices like meditation, breathing exercises or gentle movement.
Although mindfulness interventions are evidence-based treatment for chronic pain and conditions that often accompany pain, like anxiety and depression, many MBIs are difficult to implement at scale in healthcare systems. They require trained mindfulness instructors, dedicated space and pose barriers to patients due to the time commitment involved. We wanted to develop MBIs that were relatively low resource, scalable and more accessible for patients " Diana Burgess, PhD, professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and investigator at the Minneapolis Veteran Affairs (VA) Healthcare System Between November 2020 and May 2022, 811 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain participated in the Learning to Apply Mindfulness to Pain (LAMP) study at three VA facilities.
Outcomes were assessed at outset, 10 weeks, six months and one year. The group MBI was conducted via video conference with.