Meditation may help unpaid carers feel more capable and less stressed or depressed

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   27 studies: 15 with unpaid carers, mostly women, and 12 with health workers, mostly nurses. Eleven carer studies looked at carers of people with dementia. Most studies were in the USA, and each had between 8 and 93 people.

2. 02

   What they did

   Most programmes were mindfulness courses of 4 to 8 weeks. A few were other kinds of meditation. The other groups were on a waiting list or did another activity, such as music.

3. 03

   What happened

   Controlled studies found that carers felt more capable, and less stressed and depressed, than other groups. The strain of caring did not improve, and health workers felt less emotionally worn out. The discussion says only feeling capable improved overall. That clashes with the summary, so treat the rest with care.

What the review found

1. HelpedMotivation

   Across 3 studies, meditation made carers more sure of themselves than others did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 3 studies with 62 people · vs people on a waiting list or doing another activity · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 3 studies, unpaid carers who meditated were less stressed than other groups.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 3 studies with 158 people · vs people on a waiting list or doing another activity · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 7 studies, unpaid carers who meditated were less depressed than other groups.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 7 studies with 274 people · vs people on a waiting list or doing another activity · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

4. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 4 studies, health workers who meditated felt less worn out than other groups did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 4 studies with 159 people · vs health workers who waited or did another activity · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source