Dean, Sue et al. (University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia)
Mind full or mindful: opening minds in the university classroom
The development of health professionals as reflective, self-directed, empathic, therapeutic communicators and life-long learners should be fundamental to any education program. We propose that incorporating mindfulness into curricula results in a more compassionate pedagogy. This paper reports on a study where mindfulness-based practices were incorporated in the delivery of a communication subject in the first year of a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The study aim was to determine what impact, if any, mindfulness exercises had on students’ concentration, attention, openness to learning, emotional balance, pro-social behaviour, compassionate action and physical and mental well-being, and to explore changes in overall empathy levels following the mindfulness-based experiences.
The study was designed as a pre–post intervention study, with 65 consenting students enrolled in the subject. Prior to starting the study students completed a validated Empathy Construct Scale; developed to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions aimed at promoting empathy in health professional students. During the first week of semester students participated in a two-hour mindfulness-based workshop. This was followed each week, for a period of 12 weeks, during the first half hour of the two hour lecture period, by a mindfulness based exercise and feedback to discuss how students might utilise the exercise in their personal and professional lives as practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Following the 12-week period students again completed the Empathy Construct Scale and a survey eliciting their views on the mindfulness-based exercises. Data analysis will be completed prior to the conference so that results can be presented.
Mind full or mindful: opening minds in the university classroom
The development of health professionals as reflective, self-directed, empathic, therapeutic communicators and life-long learners should be fundamental to any education program. We propose that incorporating mindfulness into curricula results in a more compassionate pedagogy. This paper reports on a study where mindfulness-based practices were incorporated in the delivery of a communication subject in the first year of a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The study aim was to determine what impact, if any, mindfulness exercises had on students’ concentration, attention, openness to learning, emotional balance, pro-social behaviour, compassionate action and physical and mental well-being, and to explore changes in overall empathy levels following the mindfulness-based experiences.
The study was designed as a pre–post intervention study, with 65 consenting students enrolled in the subject. Prior to starting the study students completed a validated Empathy Construct Scale; developed to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions aimed at promoting empathy in health professional students. During the first week of semester students participated in a two-hour mindfulness-based workshop. This was followed each week, for a period of 12 weeks, during the first half hour of the two hour lecture period, by a mindfulness based exercise and feedback to discuss how students might utilise the exercise in their personal and professional lives as practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Following the 12-week period students again completed the Empathy Construct Scale and a survey eliciting their views on the mindfulness-based exercises. Data analysis will be completed prior to the conference so that results can be presented.