[Not Available]. / Awareness training for unemployed people and for welfare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Unemployment often implies several psychological issues, including hopelessness and low self-esteem. These issues may contribute to maintain the current unemployed status. OBJECTIVES: In this study we present the effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction treatment for unemployed people and welfare professionals, aimed to improve resilience and quality of life. METHODS: We assessed both unemployed people and welfare professionals for psychological outcomes at both pre- and post-treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, participants reported higher quality of life and higher levels of well-being, together with better resilience and coping style, compared to pre-test values. CONCLUSIONS: Meditation training can effectively improve well-being and resilience of unemployed people and welfare professionals.

The experience of meditation for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their caregivers - a qualitative analysis.

There is a lack of studies about psychological interventions for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers. We investigated the experience of a meditation training program tailored for ALS needs. People with ALS (pALS) and their caregivers that joined a meditation program for ALS were interviewed at the end of the program. Verbatims were analyzed with a qualitative approach. Both pALS and their caregivers reported a positive impact on their psychological well-being, promoted by an increase in acceptance and non-judgmental attitude. Furthermore, coping strategies seem to improve, with a positive effect on resilience skills. The ALS meditation training program seems to be an effective psychological intervention for the promotion of well-being in pALS and their caregivers.

Depression and disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A comprehensive meta-regression analysis.

Depression in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal and progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is a serious issue with important clinical consequences. However, physical impairment may confound the diagnosis when using generic questionnaires. We conducted a comprehensive review of literature. Mean scores from depression questionnaires were meta-regressed on study-level mean time since onset of symptoms. Data from 103 studies (3190 subjects) indicate that the Beck Depression Inventory and, to a lesser degree, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale are influenced by the time since symptom onset, strongly related to physical impairment. Our results suggest that widely used depression scales overestimate depression due to confounding with physical symptoms.

Meditation training for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their caregivers.

OBJECTIVES: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease that is clinically characterized by progressive weakness leading to death by respiratory insufficiency, usually within three years. Although the patient's intellect and personality usually remain unimpaired, as the disease progresses, the patient becomes immobile, develops wasting, and speech becomes impaired, often resulting in social isolation and a high degree of psychological suffering. Mindfulness meditation has proven to be effective technique for reducing distress in many chronic diseases. However, to date, no study has investigated the effect of mindfulness meditation on patients with ALS. DESIGN: A mindfulness meditation training program for ALS patients needs to consider the particularities of ALS symptoms, including the loss of muscular functions and difficulties in respiration, together with the subsequent emotional impairments. With these caveats in mind, a modified protocol, based on original mindfulness meditation interventions, has been created specifically for the ALS population. This article describes the protocol and preliminary results.