Partnerships Across Health Care Teams and With Deaf Community Members: The Mindfulness Practices Project

Area of Science:

• Health equity
• Mindfulness studies
• Sign language accessibility

Background:

• Growing need for culturally and linguistically diverse mindfulness resources.
• Current mindfulness practices often lack accessibility for visual language communicators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop mindfulness practice videos in sign language.
• To enhance inclusivity in mindfulness by engaging Deaf community members.

Main Methods:

• Participatory evaluation project involving healthcare teams and Deaf community members.
• Iterative video development including rehearsals, formal filming, and post-production edits.
• Focus on various mindfulness techniques: loving kindness, mindful sitting, movement, walking, and body scan.

Main Results:

• Development of sign language mindfulness videos through interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Identification of strategies to improve translation and feedback processes for sign language content.
• Enhancement of video clarity and aesthetics based on iterative review.

Conclusions:

• Interdisciplinary collaboration and community leadership are crucial for creating accessible, well-received mindfulness materials.
• Addressing the unique needs of visually communicating audiences requires extensive engagement and input.
• Future efforts should focus on easing translation burdens and improving feedback mechanisms for sign language content.