Evaluation of mindfulness training
Research Team: Dr Jill Bradshaw
Research
Background
Mindfulness training aims to develop resilience for family members, enabling them to develop mechanisms that promote more positive outcomes for both them and their family member/s. For example, the inability, or perceived inability, of parents and carers to cope can be a contributory factor for the removal of a child or young person from the family home.
Aims
The current study aims to evaluate a mindfulness group that is being run by a service provider who supports people with IDD and their families. These family carers have a child or young person with significant challenging behaviour that is putting him/ her at risk of being admitted to a more secure setting.
Methods
A mixed quantitative and qualitative design will be used to evaluate the mindfulness programme, making use of data already collected by the organisation.
The programme is a 5 (2 hour) session mindfulness group for parents. The programme is based on training designed by Dr Nick Gore. The group session is currently being delivered by members of staff at the provider organisation.
The organisation has already collected pre-data (based on 2 questionnaires) from group members for the purposes of the service evaluation. These measures will be repeated at the end of the group. Following consent from group members to use this data for the purposes of research publication, questionnaire responses will be analysed using within-subject statistics.
Finally, qualitative telephone interviews will take place with people who have completed the programme, again for the purposes of the service-evaluation. Interview transcripts will be analysed using a thematic approach.
Timeline and progress
Interviews have now been completed and analysis is ongoing. This work will be completed by the end of June 2016.