Possibilities of application of mindfulness in cardiac rehabilitation

    Authors

    Keywords

    cardiac rehabilitation, mindfulness, adaptation to disease

    DOI

    https://doi.org/10.15836/ccar2018.428

    Full Text

    Every comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program includes management of psychological factors of cardiac disease. Broadly speaking, the goal of different psychological strategies and techniques in cardiac rehabilitation is to improve subjective wellbeing and quality of life in cardiac patients. Recently, in the field of clinical psychology there is growing number of mindfulness-based interventions. Mindfulness, in its simplest form, is cognitive skill that helps us direct attention to immediate experiences, moment by moment, as they unfold, on purpose and nonjudgmentally. This kind of attention allows us to replace automatic and reactive responses with conscious and engaged ones. Mindfulness is natural attribute of every individual and it can be practiced through different meditative exercises. Studies of regular mindfulness practice show its correlation with different indicators of physical and mental health. From therapeutic point of view, mindfulness-based interventions are being used to address different psychological difficulties: depression, anxiety, stress, chronic pain, as well as eating-related behaviors and smoking cessation. Mindfulness is mechanism utilized to build intrinsic motivation, which is most strongly associated with long-term behavior change. In cardiac patients it is important to work on emotional reactions to disease, along with different health behaviors, so mindfulness as core therapeutic mechanism could find its application in cardiac rehabilitation programs. One of the goals of rehabilitation is to offer patients tools for further independent prevention of disease and mindfulness could be one of those tools. Studies show that mindfulness-based interventions are helpful in reductions in anxiety and improvements in emotional control and coping in cardiac patients, as well as in blood pressure regulation, perceived stress and anger regulation. ( 1 , 2 ) This paper will present considerations and some of the studies of applications of mindfulness-based interventions in cardiac rehabilitation.

    Cardiologia Croatica
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    Possibilities of application of mindfulness in cardiac rehabilitation

    Extended Abstract
    Issue11-12
    Published
    Pages428
    PDF via DOIhttps://doi.org/10.15836/ccar2018.428
    cardiac rehabilitation
    mindfulness
    adaptation to disease

    Authors

    Marina Njegovan*ORCIDOpatija, Croatia
    Viktor PeršićORCIDOpatija, Croatia

    Full Text

    Every comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program includes management of psychological factors of cardiac disease. Broadly speaking, the goal of different psychological strategies and techniques in cardiac rehabilitation is to improve subjective wellbeing and quality of life in cardiac patients. Recently, in the field of clinical psychology there is growing number of mindfulness-based interventions. Mindfulness, in its simplest form, is cognitive skill that helps us direct attention to immediate experiences, moment by moment, as they unfold, on purpose and nonjudgmentally. This kind of attention allows us to replace automatic and reactive responses with conscious and engaged ones. Mindfulness is natural attribute of every individual and it can be practiced through different meditative exercises. Studies of regular mindfulness practice show its correlation with different indicators of physical and mental health. From therapeutic point of view, mindfulness-based interventions are being used to address different psychological difficulties: depression, anxiety, stress, chronic pain, as well as eating-related behaviors and smoking cessation. Mindfulness is mechanism utilized to build intrinsic motivation, which is most strongly associated with long-term behavior change. In cardiac patients it is important to work on emotional reactions to disease, along with different health behaviors, so mindfulness as core therapeutic mechanism could find its application in cardiac rehabilitation programs. One of the goals of rehabilitation is to offer patients tools for further independent prevention of disease and mindfulness could be one of those tools. Studies show that mindfulness-based interventions are helpful in reductions in anxiety and improvements in emotional control and coping in cardiac patients, as well as in blood pressure regulation, perceived stress and anger regulation. ( 1 , 2 ) This paper will present considerations and some of the studies of applications of mindfulness-based interventions in cardiac rehabilitation.