One of the biggest buzzwords in the healthcare today is “mindfulness.”
Mindfulness has crossed the line between a psychological meditation practice
to a useful tool to relax patients and help control anxiety.
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where
we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed
by what’s going on around us.
“We found that by engaging in mindfulness meditation, our patients
have significantly decreased their anxiety, especially at the beginning
of a treatment as they are connected to the dialysis machine,” says
Thang Trey Ngo, a clinical assistant at Satellite Healthcare Stevens Creek
in San Jose, California, where the practice has been tested.
Many patients experience anxiety when needles are introduced into the their
dialysis access. To try to reduce mental and physical discomfort, patients
are given an iPad and headphones. Using a mobile application, called
Headspace, patients are led in a 10-minute meditation exercise. The meditation helps
patients enter a state of deep relaxation that may reduce anxiety stress
and depressive symptoms that usually go undetected and untreated.
“Not only did mindfulness meditation decrease the anxiety related
to dialysis, many patients also used this technique to assist relaxation
and improve sleep at home,” says Raymond Chang, the research project manager.
Testing the effectiveness of meditation is part of Satellite Healthcare
Applied Pragmatic Clinical Research (APCR), a collection of research projects
aimed at improving the patient experience.
APCR research focuses on care delivery and process improvement that lead
to findings that can rapidly be adopted and implemented across the CKD
community. Research initiatives seek to:
- Increase the number of patients dialyzing using home therapies (HHD and PD).
- Greatly reduce home dialysis drop-out rates.
- Advance quality treatment with in the context of excellent patient experience.
- Collaborate with like-minded organizations to create a future network focused
on identifying innovative and leading practices.
“The mindfulness study at the Satellite Healthcare Stevens Creek
particularly addresses the goal of improving the patient experience,”
explains Paul Bennett, the study’s clinical lead. “Something
that has been at the center of patient care for Satellite Healthcare for
more than 40 years.”
Other Satellite Healthcare APCR studies include
LOL HD and nocturnal sleep beds. Learn more about Satellite Healthcare research at
satellitehealth.com/research.