Improving depressive symptoms and maintaining cognitive abilities of seniors within the nursing homes: A pilot study of brief mindfulness-based interventions for seniors in a semi-randomized trial
Open accessAbstract
Introduction: Seniors in nursing homes are at higher risk for depression and emotional distress. The COVID-19 crisis and isolation have even increased the risk for cognitive decline and suicidality. Since social media is often unfamiliar to older adults, their treatment options were diminished during quarantine. Recently, studies showed the potential for Mindfulness-Based Intervention in improving cognitive functioning and psychological well-being among healthy older adults. Standardized courses such as MBSR and MBCT are not suited to the majority of seniors for several reasons. First, the interventions are too long and demanding, physically and cognitively. Second, they require an instructed counselor for delivery, which makes it almost impossible in times of quarantine, and third, very expensive. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine whether similar improvements in emotional distress and cognitive functioning can be achieved through a brief intervention, that can be delivered by workers in nursing homes. Methods: A course of 8 half-hour sessions each (MBIS: Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Seniors) was employed in two versions: (1) An 8-week course with weekly meetings (2) A 4-week course with 2 sessions per week and compared to a control care-as-usual group. Depression and mood were measured, as well as cognitive abilities in the Simon task. In addition, the level of Mindfulness skills was measured before and after the interventions. Results: We showed that brief interventions succeeded in improving mindfulness Non-reactivity and produced changes in the facets Acting with awareness and Non-judging. More importantly, the brief intervention, in both frequency versions, improved the level of depression and mood (BDI and PHQ-9). At the cognitive level, an adaptive sequential effect appeared after the intervention only in the 8-week MBIS group. Discussion: These findings indicate the effectiveness of this pilot of a short, simple, mindfulness-based intervention, in improving depression and psychological distress, as well as improving cognitive control over time. This may enhance significant developments in the field of treatment solutions for seniors, with a ready-to-use protocol to administer in nursing homes.
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Other studies found that specific mindfulness facets, such as acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reactivity, if not overall mindfulness, improved after the intervention and are associated with improved emotional well-being and reduced depressive symptoms.
“others found that specific facets, such as acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reactivity, if not overall mindfulness, improved after the intervention [37, 42] and are associated with improved emotional well-being and reduced depressive symptoms [42].”
From Effectiveness of an age-modified mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in improving mental health in older people with depressive symptoms: a non-randomised controlled trial. (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
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Improving home-like environments in long-term care units: an exploratory mixed-method study
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“For the current study, we chose the designed mindfulness-based intervention for seniors (MBIS; Aisenberg-Shafran & Harmatz, 2023) with a decentering orientation (D-MBIS) and created a matching guided-imagery protocol for examination.”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Aisenberg-Shafran, D., & Harmatz, M.
- Affiliations
- Ruppin Academic Center (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Aisenberg-Shafran, Daniela
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2023-08-09
- Volume
- 13
- Pages
- 994336-994336
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10446881
- OpenAlex
- W4385709208
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 2.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based interventions, older adults, nursing homes, depression, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, cognitive control, Simon task, psychological distress, mood, COVID-19 quarantine, isolation, brief intervention
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