Global Advances in Health and Medicine : Improving Healthcare Outcomes Worldwide

The field of mindfulness-based research and practice is expanding fast. This development calls for a careful evaluation of the merits and scientific underpinnings of newly developed mindfulness-based programs (MBP's). In this viewpoint, we describe a process initiated by two professional mindfulness teacher training organisations (the Dutch Vereniging Mindfulness-based Trainers Nederland , VMBN, and the British Association of Mindfulness-based Approaches , BAMBA) to develop a framework for evaluating the integrity of newly developed MBP's...

BACKGROUND: There is a knowledge gap in the physiological effects of short-term yoga exercise interventions. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessing the acute effects of a yoga exercise protocol practiced at 2 intensities (high or moderate) on temporal responses of a battery of systemic circulatory cytokines in healthy yoga-naïve adults. METHODS: This study was a three-arm, pre-post pilot-RCT employing a single bout of yoga exercise intervention...

BACKGROUND: Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, may adversely affect gastrointestinal (GI), physical and mental health in survivors of cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated associations between GI, mental and physical health outcomes, and cancer treatment-related variables, such as chemotherapy, in adult cancer survivors. METHODS: A one-time cross-sectional survey with patient-reported outcomes was used. Cancer survivors (N = 317) aged ≥18 years, living in Canada, who completed cancer treatments were included...

BACKGROUND: Accounting professionals experience a stressful working environment with previous studies demonstrating a high prevalence of burnout. Meditation-based interventions have a potential role in decreasing burnout and improving satisfaction with life. However, the benefits of Heartfulness meditation intervention have not been demonstrated among accounting professionals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of an 8-week Heartfulness Meditation program on burnout and satisfaction with life in chartered accountants...

BACKGROUND: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) is undergoing a transformation in how healthcare is organized and provided. This transformation to a Whole Health System of Care encompasses the integration of complementary and integrative health services, education, and Whole Health coaching to develop Veterans' self-care skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these services were provided via telehealth (tele-WH). OBJECTIVE: We sought to understand Veteran and provider perspectives on how tele-WH impacts Veteran engagement in Whole Health-aligned services and the impact on their well-being...

Background: Stress-related disease is increasing, with high resilience proposed as protective. Whilst the Current Experiences Scale (CES) shows promise as a measure of resilience, its psychological correlates and relationship to psychological stress remain unclear. Objectives: (1) Further explore the psychometric properties of the CES, (2) identify modifiable psychological factors associated with the CES and (3) test a previously published model for the influence of adaptive strategies and stress management factors on resiliency and stress...

Langevin1 rightly points to the reductionist mindset being the stumbling block for providing person-centered care. While considering the interconnections between the various domains underpinning health is a necessary first step towards more person-centered care, it ultimately is not sufficient. Person-centered care arises from the appreciation of the interdependencies and interactions between the various domains across its large-scale supersystems as much as its small-scale subsystems. Viewed with a complex-adaptive systems mindset health and disease are the phenotypical outcome categorisations of a person's whole-of-systems dynamics across all scales of organisation...

Comparing Covid-19 mortality among the U.S. population overall with mortality among Veterans Affairs patients and U.S. military patients.

Background: In 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP) designated Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an eight-week group program, as first-line non-pharmacological treatment for chronic low back pain. However, interprofessional collaboration between mindfulness instructors and Primary Care Providers (PCP) remains largely unknown. Objective: We developed a survey to assess communication between mindfulness instructors and PCPs, identify predictors of referral to MBSR, and determine areas where interventions could increase patient access to MBSR...

Background: A recent UK Government draft Heath White Paper follows the NHS England long term plan when it states that NHS England requires "a new framework that builds on changes already being made as well as building in the flexibility to support the system to tackle challenges of the future". At present the structure of Health and Social Care Services UK reporting to Government seems unhelpfully complex and opaque. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the building of a new framework using a generic approach to identify and use 'systemic processes' to facilitate the integration of Health and Social Care services in NHS England and elsewhere...

Background: Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder can be stressful and result in health consequences for the caregivers, a population that is often overlooked and underserved. While mind-body interventions such as mindfulness yoga can help promote positive health outcomes, limited research has explored the impact of such a program on caregivers of children on the autism spectrum. Objective: The primary objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the effects of a 12-week mindfulness yoga program (MYtime) on perceived stress, anxiety, and depression among urban caregivers of children on the autism spectrum...

Background: Valued living is the extent to which an individual's behavior is consistent with what they believe is important or good. It is unknown whether many complementary and integrative treatments and psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder enhance valued living, and for whom. Objectives: Measure within- and between-group changes in valued living in Veterans who completed cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and sudarshan kriya yoga (SKY) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); evaluate moderators of improvement...

Background: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) and chronic neck pain (cNP) are highly prevalent conditions and common reasons for disability among military personnel. Yoga and other mind-body interventions have been shown to safely decrease pain and disability in persons with cLBP and/or cNP but have not been adequately studied in active duty military personnel. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering 2 types of yoga (hatha and restorative) to a sample of active-duty military personnel with cLBP/cNP...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1177/2164956120982956.].

Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate multiple indices of wellbeing in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Healthcare professionals were invited to participate across the University Hospitals healthcare system in Ohio, USA. Participants (N = 6397) completed online questionnaires on their wellbeing, including healthy behaviors, safety and security, mental and physical health concerns, and social support. Differences in wellbeing across demographics were also assessed...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Background: The Veterans Health Administration is rolling out a Whole Health system of care as part of an enhanced focus on proactive, person-centered healthcare. Objective: Our program evaluation seeks to characterize what Veterans use Whole Health services, for what diagnoses they are seeking Whole Health services, and to examine "high utilizers" of Whole Health services. Methods: Data were collected on 174 Veterans using Whole Health services from December 2018 through March 2020 and consisted of chart review and self-report data...

Background: Depression, generalized anxiety, fatigue, diminished physical function, reduced social participation, and pain are common for many older adults and negatively impact quality of life. The purpose of the overall trial was to compare the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and yoga on late-life worry, anxiety, and sleep; and examine preference and selection effects on these outcomes. Objective: The present analyses compared effects of the 2 interventions on additional outcomes (depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety symptoms, fatigue, pain interference/intensity, physical function, social participation); and examined whether there are preference and selection effects for these treatments...

Background and objectives: The evolution of healthcare from 18th-century reductionism to 21st-century postgenomic holism has been described in terms of systems medicine, and the impact of the built environment on human health is the focus of investigation and development, leading to the new specialty of evidence-based, therapeutic architecture. The traditional system of Vāstu architecture-a design paradigm for buildings which is proposed to promote mental and physical health-has been applied and studied in the West in the last 20 years, and features elements absent from other approaches...

Perhaps, the biggest risk facing the efforts to improve health and well-being for all, is to fail to realize that this requires not simply improvement upon the existing systems, but TRUE transformation. And, transformation not of one massive, complex system but of a multitude of systems. The Whole Health Institute has identified thirteen large systems that impact health and well-being and are in need of true transformation.