Type I Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial of Primary Care Brief Mindfulness Training for Veterans

PCBMT is a manualized intervention that is a brief adaptation of MBSR Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It was developed by Dr. Scott Treatman and Dr. Dessa Bergen-Cico (Co-I). PCBMT consists of four 90-minute classes (360 total minutes of classes). Instruction encompasses sitting meditation, body scan, moving meditation, gentle yoga, and group discussion on topics such as non-judging, patience, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. In-class meditations are followed by a group process of the experience. At-home practice between sessions is encouraged and is guided by simple checklists asking students to check the meditation they practiced and write a few comments about what the experience was like.

"Moving Forward (MF) is a transdiagnostic class that seeks to build resilience and reduce emotional distress by teaching step-by-step problem-solving skills such as stop, slow down, think and act. The format that will be used as the comparison is manualized, group-delivered, primary care-based, often co-delivered by MH providers and peers, and considered a usual care practice in many VHA PCMHI programs. MF content is derived from problem solving therapy, which has clear effectiveness in reducing depression and other types of psychological distress. While the MF manual consists of four 60-minutes classes, for this study the 4 classes will be 90-minutes long to equate the length of both conditions. No new content will be added rather the additional time will be used to allow Veterans to complete worksheets in class and allow more group discussion."