The abstract that was submitted and accepted for presentation at the conference is below:
“Background; Validation of mindfulness courses in terms of benefits, such as reducing stress and anxiety, in diverse populations is key, particularly as they are growing in popularity. The Everyone Project, a collaborative venture between the Mindfulness Association and the Hart Knowe Trust, committed to addressing the diversity in people attending the 8-week Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) across the UK.
Aims; This research aimed to evaluate the MBLC in Cohort 1 and 2 of The Everyone Project.
Methods; 33 courses were delivered to people aged 19-85 with group sizes of between 3 and 21. Participants completed 3 questionnaires which evaluated wellbeing (World Health Organisation 5; WHO-5), current perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale; PSS-10) and mindful awareness (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; MAAS) with differences between pre- and post- course scores analysed. Factors influencing course completion and impact were also investigated.
Results; Preliminary data analyses indicate a significant increase across cohorts in the WHO-5 and MAAS and a decrease in PSS-10 post course. Dropout ranged from 0-81.8% and further analyses will investigate specific factors which may have influenced this.
Conclusion; This research shows for the first time that the MBLC increases wellbeing and mindful attention and decreases current perceived stress across diverse populations, suggesting further deliveries of the course would be of benefit to these harder to reach groups. Future research should focus on investigating potential factors influencing dropout further in order to optimise the impact and delivery of 8-week mindfulness courses.”