A Feasibility Study of An Online Mindful Well-being Course.

Participants will consent to be enrolled in an online course that fosters the cultivation of compassion through mindfulness. Participants will be randomly allocated to either the compassion-based mindfulness high interactivity (CBM-H) course or the compassion-based mindfulness course low interactivity (CBM-L). Both courses are modulated into six themes, all surrounding differing components of compassion based interventions (Including; self-kindness, mindfulness, interconnection, self-criticism and dealing with difficult emotions). Each module is estimated to take approximately 2-3 hours per week to complete. Each Module contains a brief overview of the weekly theme, introductions the concept, an activity of surrounding the concept, a mindfulness practice (starting at 10 minutes in module one progressing to 20-25 minutes in module six), reading material (the underlying scientific basis of the theme) and a quiz to check understanding. Participants will be asked to reflect on their practices weekly via. diary entry's (displayed as an online personal blog). Weekly announcements of tips suggesting how to manage to incorporate the weekly compassion based theme into daily activities will be posted to the announcements. Weekly emails introducing the theme, topic and activities of the week will be sent to participants to encourage adherence. Engagement data from the online platform of which the course is hosted will be assessed at the end of the course to assess the levels of engagement, points of drop-out and levels of activity. The metrics consist of, activity reports, logs, engagement analytics, a breakdown of downloads and streaming use and log-in reports. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored as the course is structured in modules, competency tracking of each module is enabled, participants will have to complete a quiz at the end of the module to progress. Participants who do not complete the course in the 6-week duration will be asked to complete a questionnaire surrounding their reason for non-completion. Participants who choose to withdraw from the study will be contacted by the chief investigator and questioned surrounding the reason for withdrawing and if necessary referred to other services. The content in both groups is 100% identical. The only differences in the low and high interactivity group are the online structure of activities. Whereby the activities in the high interactivity group are structured around encouraging collaboration, interactivity and communication between participants. These activity's consist of peer-graded assessments, collaborative brainstorms, response and reply to forums, the creation of glossary, a group blog and reflective forums that are open. The low interactivity groups course is structured as an individually based course. Which will not have the levels of interaction with other students.