Yoga and compassion meditation program improve quality of life and self-compassion in family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients: A randomized controlled trial.

An 8-week program combining yoga and compassion meditation improved quality of life, attention, vitality, and self-compassion in family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients. Forty-six volunteers were randomly assigned to either the yoga and compassion meditation group or a no-treatment control group. The program consisted of three 75-minute sessions per week. The intervention group showed statistically significant improvements on all four measures compared with the control group, which showed no significant changes. The findings suggest such a program can benefit caregivers.

Study at a glance

Abstract

To investigate the effects of the practice of yoga in combination with compassion meditation on the quality of life, attention, vitality and self-compassion of family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease. A total of 46 volunteers were randomly allocated to two groups, the yoga and compassion meditation program group (n = 25), and the control group (CG) that received no treatment (n = 21). The program lasted 8 weeks, and comprised three yoga and meditation practices per week, with each session lasting 1 h and 15 min. Quality of life, attention, vitality, and self-compassion scores were measured pre- and postintervention. The yoga and compassion meditation program group showed statistically significant improvements (P < 0.05) on quality of life, attention, vitality and self-compassion scores as compared with the control group, which showed no statistical significant differences at the postintervention time-point. The findings of the present study suggest that an 8-week yoga and compassion meditation program can improve the quality of life, vitality, attention, and self-compassion of family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 85-91.