“I'm Opening My Arms Rather Than Pushing Away:” Perceived Benefits of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Among Homeless Women and Young Children

Abstract

Family homelessness is associated with adverse outcomes in mothers and their young children. Evidence-based programs are needed to support the socio-emotional needs of these families. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived benefits of participating in a mindfulness program in mother-child dyads receiving services at a therapeutic nursery serving homeless children under the age of 3. A convenience sample of 17 predominantly African American mothers participated in in-depth qualitative interviews. Four themes were derived from the data regarding the perceived benefits of the mindfulness program including: “me” time, maternal self-regulation, dyadic connectedness, and child well-being. Results demonstrate the perceived benefits of mindfulness on the parent-child relationship, and have important implications for families at an increased risk of adverse outcomes. Because homelessness and residential instability confer considerable risk for young children, interventions to support effective parenting are critical.

Common trust and personal safety issues: A systematic review on the acceptability of health and social interventions for persons with lived experience of homelessness

“…Mothers expressed feelings of pride when they observed positive changes in their children’s health and social outcomes after participating in maternal programs. They felt that family-oriented interventions allowed them to become effective mothers [54,66,71,82]: “It’s awesome because it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing you know, that I’m being a good parent”. [54]…”

“…Individuals participating in housing programs initially felt socially isolated but found that support from peers and staff with shared lived experience of marginalization allowed them to develop strong connections with and eventual feelings of altruism toward their peers. [58,60,62,67,68,72,76,84] The key relationships identified were with staff,[62,66,72,73,86] peers, [56,64,67,69,84] friends,[64] family,[54,66,69] people from their cultural community,[60,72] and the broader community. [67,72] These individuals also found that the peer support in youth- and women-specific programs was especially beneficial to the development of relationships and in enhancing one’s commitment to seek treatment and participate in programs.…”

“…[67,72] These individuals also found that the peer support in youth- and women-specific programs was especially beneficial to the development of relationships and in enhancing one’s commitment to seek treatment and participate in programs. [26,54,56,64,67,69,73,84,87]…”

“…Finally, studies highlighted that the intergenerational cycle of violence and poverty experienced by individuals who are vulnerably housed exacerbated their mental health problems and related stigma. [66,67,70] This was particularly prominent among women [54,75,82] and their children. [71] Youth, in particular, felt stigmatized for admitting to having mental health issues; this led to feelings of low self-worth and expectations of failure.…”

Homelessness

“…As an adjunct to the more basic interventions, these types of training and personal support interventions can have value for some people who are homeless (Milby et al 2010). Some research has also provided preliminary explorations of the benefits of mindfulness training for people who have experienced homelessness (Alhusen et al 2017;Maddock et al 2017).…”