Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review

Abstract

A scoping review was conducted to describe how mindfulness is used in physical rehabilitation, identify implications for occupational therapy practice, and guide future research on clinical mindfulness interventions. A systematic search of four literature databases produced 1,524 original abstracts, of which 16 articles were included. Although only 3 Level I or II studies were identified, the literature included suggests that mindfulness interventions are helpful for patients with musculoskeletal and chronic pain disorders and demonstrate trends toward outcome improvements for patients with neurocognitive and neuromotor disorders. Only 2 studies included an occupational therapist as the primary mindfulness provider, but all mindfulness interventions in the selected studies fit within the occupational therapy scope of practice according to the American Occupational Therapy Association's Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process. Higher-level research is needed to evaluate the effects of mindfulness interventions in physical rehabilitation and to determine best practices for the use of mindfulness by occupational therapy practitioners.

Are we Missing Opportunities? How Occupational Therapists Would Benefit from Connecting Mindfulness to Occupational Participation

“…Most forms of informal mindfulness, generally described as an additional activity in which one applies a mindful attention, such as in yoga, have yielded measurable benefits in stress reduction, mental health, and other health conditions, including reduced pain perception (Carsley & Heath, 2018;Hardison & Roll, 2016;Strauss et al, 2014). Informal mindfulness is defined by the application of mindful awareness while experiencing participation in everyday activities without perseveration on competing thoughts, feelings, and body sensations (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).…”

“…Secondary review articles revealed helpful information from seven additional articles and four texts. First, in a scoping review of mindfulness techniques applied in physical rehabilitation via breath, yoga, meditation, and other non-specified activities (Hardison & Roll, 2016), the authors found support for the use of these stand-alone mindfulness trainings to enhance client self-efficacy and disease management, improve adaptation to disability and quality of life perception, and reduce pain and depression associated with neurocognitive and neuromotor disorders. Of the 14 articles reviewed, however, only two instances were identified in which occupational therapy facilitated the intervention.…”

“…Mindfulness, then, would be logically embedded in daily occupations as an intervention approach. In practice, however, mindfulness interventions appear to be frequently employed formally as stand-alone meditation practices, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction training (MBSR), or informally as part of a limited set of activities, such as deep breathing exercises, meditative walking, and yoga (Hardison & Roll, 2016). We were interested in knowing if occupational therapists were leveraging the natural connections between mindfulness and occupational engagement across practice settings in the context of daily client-identified occupations.…”

Train 4 Good - an eight-month mindfulness program live on Internet for long-term mental fatigue and emotional distress after an acquired brain injury

“…Some evidence suggest that mindfulness training can be a rather robust intervention to improve mental health outcome and especially stress, even when mindfulness is administrated and delivered in a shorter format, online on internet (Spijkerman, Pots, & Bohlmeijer, 2016). Short term mindfulness intervention could be of benefit, but so far shorter mindfulness interventions in rehabilitation are not yet well established (Hardison & Roll, 2016), especially when considering life-long mental health issues. We also wanted to enable for participants to share their experiences, over time and learn from each other by the specific way that inquiry is held during the class by the mindfulness teacher.…”

Occupational therapists' perceptions of psychosocial strategies for clients with Parkinson's disease

“…Occupational therapists are holistic, client‐centered health practitioners who play an integral role in PD management, aiming to work alongside clients to enhance independence, physical functioning, participation in meaningful activities, and overall quality of life (Martin & Wieler, ). In addressing the psychological needs of their clients, numerous evidence‐based psychosocial strategies are considered to be within the scope of occupational therapy practice, including goal setting, mindfulness, CBT, relaxation, MI and positive reinforcement, psychoeducation, and social support (American Occupational Therapy Association, ; Hardison & Roll, ; Nielsen, Stube, & Bass, ).…”