Depression and/or Anxiety in the Mild-to-moderate Range, Loneliness, Social Isolation
Conditions
Keywords
Mindfulness, Older Adults, Lifestyle Medicine, Quality of Life, Social Prescribing
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program in community-dwelling older adults aged 55 and older. The main questions it aims to answer are: To establish a mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing model applied to the psychological and social health promotion of middle-aged and older populations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on improving depressive symptoms, loneliness, and quality of life in this population. Participants will receive an 8-week group intervention program, with each weekly session lasting approximately 3 hours. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). Researchers will collect and evaluate data from pre- and post-intervention assessments to measure changes in depressive symptoms, loneliness risk, and overall quality of life.
Detailed description
This clinical trial implements an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program designed to enhance the psychological and social well-being of community-dwelling older adults. The intervention integrates mindfulness practices with healthy lifestyle modifications to address sub-healthy states, such as depressive symptoms and social isolation, which traditional clinical models often fail to fully resolve. The structured 8-week group curriculum meets weekly for 3 hours per session. The program systematically incorporates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (including herbal therapy and leaf printing). The program is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of geriatricians, geriatric case managers, nutritionists, exercise instructors, and trained volunteers to ensure comprehensive support. Research procedures involve a pre- and post-intervention assessment design. Participants will undergo standardized evaluations before the commencement of the first session (Week 1) and upon the completion of the program (Week 8). These assessments will objectively measure changes in depressive symptoms, the risk of loneliness, and overall quality of life to determine the effect of this social prescribing model.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMindfulness Lifestyle Social Prescribing Program
An 8-week, once-weekly, 3-hour group program designed for middle-aged and older adults. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). It is delivered by a multidisciplinary team including geriatricians, case managers, dietitians, exercise instructors, and volunteers.
Sponsors
Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* People aged 55 years or older. * People with a Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score of 7-10 or a UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 score of 35-64. * People can understand the research process, meet the requirements of the research, and can sign the informed consent and participate in the project.
Exclusion criteria
* People that are unable to cooperate with the project or follow-up. * According to the PI's judgment, people with severe or poorly controlled conditions include ongoing acute diseases, severe infections, severe abnormal laboratory tests, or serious medical conditions with the following systems: cardiovascular, pulmonary, hepatic, nervous, mental, metabolic, renal, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, etc. * People with severe depression, risk of self-harm, severe cognitive impairment (dementia), visual or hearing impairment, and disabilities that prevent the completion of the project and assessment. * People are currently or expected to join any other physical training courses or nutrition intervention plans during the project period. * Others are based on the judgment of the PI that participating in this project may adversely affect the safety of the subjects, hinder the progress of the experiment, or interfere with the evaluation of the outcomes of the project.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score | Baseline and Week 8 | The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) is a 15-item questionnaire used to assess depression symptoms in older adults. Scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms. |
| Changes in UCLA Loneliness Scale score | Baseline and Week 8 | The UCLA Loneliness Scale measures an individual's subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater loneliness. |
| Changes in WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire score | Baseline and Week 8 | The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Taiwan version is a 28-item questionnaire used to assess the physical, psychological, social relationships, and environment domains of quality of life. Scores for each domain are transformed to a scale of 4 to 20, with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Changes in scores were evaluated between baseline and week 8. |
Countries
Taiwan
Contacts
CONTACTSheng-Lun Kao, MD. PhD.
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORSheng-Lun Kao, MD. PhD.
Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital
Outcome results
None listed