Wellness Interventions After Transplant Study

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is the intervention of primary interest. It is a psycho-educational program of 8-weekly classes, 2.5 hours long taught by a trained instructor. Over the course of the program participants receive training in several formal meditation techniques: a body-scan meditation, sitting meditation, walking meditation and mindful Hatha yoga that involves simple stretches and movements. Participants are requested to practice meditation at home and to integrate informal mindfulness practices into their daily lives. The content of MBSR is described in the book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

The active control condition was a peer-led chronic disease self-management program comprised of 8 weekly, 2.5 hour meetings. Led by trained peer-leaders, groups of participants discussed health challenges and problem-solved using a technique called action-planning. The curriculum described by Lorig and colleagues in the book Living a Health Life was the core of this program, and transplant-specific issues were covered in two meetings to match MBSR for time and attention.

A temporary wait-list control group; after 6 months, those in the Delayed Intervention were randomized a second time, to one of the active treatment arms (MBSR or HE).