Mindfulness Training for Older Adult Canadian Immigrants

NCT ID: NCT03923452

Last Updated: 2025-06-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 50 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2023-04-30

Brief Summary

This study will evaluate whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a viable community program for enhancing wellbeing among older adult immigrants from low income neighborhoods. Half of the sample will be randomized to receive the 9-week mindfulness program and the other half will be randomized to a wait list control condition. Primary outcomes of interest will include perceived stress and self-report depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes will include trait mindfulness and self-care, self-compassion, emotion regulations, and attentional skills. Participants will also be invited to engage in a 30-minute interview to discuss their lived experience as an immigrant in Canada and their experience in the MBSR program. Due to COVID-19, all sessions will be held virtually.

Detailed Description

Adults aged 65 years and older are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population. In the 2006 Census, 43% of older adults in Ontario identified as being a Canadian immigrant, a statistic which continues to grow in the context of an aging population. Aging is commonly associated with declines in physical and cognitive capacity, which is significantly accelerated by chronic perceived stress. Lower income older adults are particularly vulnerable to accelerated aging and disease onset due to the stress of economic insecurity. In 2012, the highest low-income rates in Canada were reported among immigrants 65 years of age and older. Accordingly, it is important to investigate programs that can support the wellbeing of aging Canadian immigrants.

The principal investigator (PI) and her research team will conduct a one-factor between-subjects design with two conditions - a mindfulness-based intervention and a waitlist control - to examine the benefits of mindfulness training on indices of wellbeing, including perceived stress, depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, self-compassion and self care. It is hypothesized that mindfulness training will enhance indices of wellbeing compared to a wait-list control. Employing a mixed-methods approach, participants will also engage in a qualitative interviews to provide insight into the lived experience and how mindfulness may serve Canadian immigrants.

Conditions

Stress

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

MBSR: Mindfulness-based stress reduction

Participants will be exposed to the 9-week MBSR program, facilitated by a trained MBSR facilitator. Due to COVID-19, the program will be held virtually.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a manualized mindfulness training protocol that has been researched for over 20 years. The original protocol will be used, with the exception of the prescribed home practice duration (i.e. 30 mins of practice). Rather, the program will be modified to set up participants for success by providing them with instruction to "build" on their meditation practice, beginning with 8 minutes a day.

WLC: Wait list Control

Participants will be asked to log their self-care activities every week.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a manualized mindfulness training protocol that has been researched for over 20 years. The original protocol will be used, with the exception of the prescribed home practice duration (i.e. 30 mins of practice). Rather, the program will be modified to set up participants for success by providing them with instruction to "build" on their meditation practice, beginning with 8 minutes a day.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 60+ years of age; Canadian immigrant; low socioeconomic status; immigrated to Canada within last 15 years; reports experiencing stress in their daily life.

Exclusion Criteria

• existing contemplative practice; currently enrolled in a research study; non-fluency in English; neurological disorder that prevents participation in the 9-week program or testing procedures; plans to vacation during the study period/unable to attend 9 program sessions and 2 testing sessions; existing substance abuse (last 6 months); psychiatric disorder that may prevent participation in 9-week program or testing procedure.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Toronto Metropolitan University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Alexandra J. Fiocco, PhD

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Alexandra J Fiocco, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Toronto Metropolitan University

Locations

Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Countries

Canada

Other Identifiers

AFiocco

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id