Veterans' engagement in mindfulness practices following intervention

Area of Science:

• Integrative and Complementary Health
• Mental Health Interventions
• Veteran Health

Background:

• Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are widely used for mental health.
• Veterans experience significant benefits from MBIs but have higher dropout rates compared to other treatments.
• Understanding veteran motivations and long-term engagement is crucial for optimizing MBI effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate veterans' motivations for engaging in mindfulness practices.
• To assess long-term adherence to mindfulness practices after completing MBIs.
• To identify factors influencing veteran engagement and outcomes in MBIs.

Main Methods:

• Phone surveys administered 6-12 months post-intervention to 161 veterans.
• Utilized bivariate statistics to analyze relationships between demographic variables and theme scores.
• Assessed motivations for treatment, reported benefits, and maintenance of daily mindfulness practice.

Main Results:

• Veterans sought treatment for trauma, health concerns, depression, and anxiety.
• Reported significant benefits in depressive symptoms, anxiety, health concerns, and pain.
• Over 50% of participants maintained a daily mindfulness practice post-intervention.
• Demographic variables correlated with different veteran outcomes, though MBI types showed comparable outcomes.

Conclusions:

• MBIs offer benefits for veterans' mental health and well-being.
• Strategies to enhance early engagement with core mindfulness skills and consistent practice building may reduce dropout rates.
• Tailoring MBI delivery based on demographic factors could improve long-term adherence and outcomes for veterans.