[The Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Reducing Relocation Anxiety and Promoting Adaptation in...

Relocating from home to a long-term facility is frequently a stressful event for older persons with diabetes. Therefore, it is important that nurses have available an intervention program that effectively reduces relocation anxiety and promotes adaptation in this population.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention in reducing relocation anxiety and promoting adaptation in older persons with diabetes.

Four long-term care facilities in Kaohsiung City were selected as the study sites. Residents of these facilities who had diabetes and who had moved in within the previous year were recruited as participants using a simple random-sampling method. The experimental group (n = 34) received a 9-week mindfulness-based intervention and the control group (n = 32) received routine diabetes care and maintained their normal daily routine. Outcome measurements included a demographic datasheet, the Taiwanese version of the State Anxiety Inventory, and the individual mental factors subscale of the elderly adaptation problem scale. These measures were administered at baseline and upon completion of the intervention.

Thirty participants in each group completed the study. The mean differences between the baseline and post-test scores in the experimental group for relocation anxiety (t = 5.15, p < .01) and adaptation (t = -5.57, p < .01) were both significant. Among the participants who tested positive for relocation anxiety at pretest (a mean score > 30.13; 83.3% of the participants), those in the experimental group reported a more significant decrease (p < .05) in relocation anxiety at posttest than their control group peers. Among the participants who tested as having poor adaptation pretest (a mean scores < 45.62; 71.7% of the participants), those in the experimental group reported a more significant improvement (p < .05) in adaptation at posttest than their control group peers.

The results indicate that the 9-week intervention has the potential to help older people with diabetes improve their relocation anxiety and adaptation. This study may be used as a reference to improve emotional distress among residents of long-term care facilities.