Twelve tips for creating a multicultural mindfulness-based intervention in diverse healthcare settings

Abstract

High levels of stress and burnout, low help-seeking behaviour and unhealthy coping in healthcare professionals (HCPs), are a critical concern globally. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) reduce stress, are a healthy coping mechanism and have become increasingly popular among HCPs, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, HCPs’ busy schedules require the intervention to be accessible, pragmatic, and context specific. Key to this goal is approaching mindfulness from a multicultural perspective, especially in diverse settings such as Africa. This paper aims to provide practical tips to ensure that the MBI offered is effective with multicultural HCPs during intense stress. Four tips each discuss the curriculum, implementation, and sustainability, respectively. The tips are elucidated by practical examples of regulating stress in healthcare settings and to offer a guideline to help structure future MBIs to be culturally and context appropriate.

Keywords:

• Mindfulness
• healthcare professionals
• stress relief
• meditation
• coping mechanism
• multicultural

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partly funded by a doctoral scholarship from UKZN.

Notes on contributors

Iram Osman

Iram Osman, PhD, is a board-certified clinical psychologist. Her research interests are in the use of Mindfulness-Based Interventions to reduce stress, anxiety and burnout predominantly with health professionals.

Sduduzo Mncwabe

Sduduzo Mncwabe is a board-certified clinical psychologist. He is a doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology at the University of Rochester, New York State, USA. His research and psychotherapy work are underpinned by an interest in African Psychology.

Veena S. Singaram

Veena S. Singaram, PhD, is an Associate Professor in medical education research in the Clinical and Professional Practice Discipline at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.