Mindfulness Group Therapy

Reposted from: http://www.nicabm.com/nicabmblog/depression-anxiety-stress-could-mindfulness-group-therapy-help/

Depression, Anxiety, Stress . . . Could Mindfulness Group Therapy Help?

DECEMBER 9, 2014 BY RUTH BUCZYNSKI, PHD

It can be really exciting to come across research offering insight into new techniques . . . 

. . . particularly when the method allows us to reach more people than we usually can.

A team of researchers out of the Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Sweden, led by Jan Sundquist, MD, PhD, wanted to compare the outcome of mindfulness-based group therapy against that of individual-based cognitive therapy (CBT).

They conducted an 8-week randomized controlled trial that included 215 patients (between the ages of 20-64) who exhibited symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress. 

Participants were randomly assigned to either the group mindfulness treatment or the individual CBT treatment and attended weekly sessions.

However, when taken as a whole, the benefits here are two-fold: patients can take advantage of (more affordable) group sessions, and practitioners can make more of an impact by treating groups rather than only doing individual therapy.

Both before and after the trial, participants self-reported their symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale.

It came as a surprise to the researchers when, at the end of the trial, both groups reported a significant decrease in symptoms. 

And while there weren’t any significant between-group differences, this work does suggest that group mindfulness might be just as useful as individual CBT. 

So what could this mean for practitioners? 

Well, it might be possible to start considering group mindfulness treatment as a viable alternative to individual therapy. 

But we still have to be careful before we assume that this is the way to reach more people just as effectively as one-on-one practice. I also would be interested in a 12 month follow-up. 

If you’d like to find out more, this new study was published on November 27, 2014 and is available online through The British Journal of Psychiatry. 

But for now, which patients have you seen respond to mindfulness therapy? If you have used it, do you conduct group sessions as well? Please let me know by commenting below.

Data as Multiple Languages

I have created the following Prezi presentation "Data as Multiple Languages" as we begin thinking about data collection and analysis.

http://prezi.com/b2ow2vdk1owt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy 

I was thinking about how we might play with data some before we jumped into ideas around collection and analysis. Thinking about what data is, how it can be useful, the different forms it might take in your research is important before we move into the next steps.  

If we think of data as a language, as a way of communicating meaning, then this opens up all forms of data as potentially useful in research. Usefulness becomes a relational process, understanding how different forms of data make sense in different contexts. For example, the communication about what MDGs are that I selected have certain relevance and meaning in certain contexts. The video with the performers in Africa brought all sorts of local metaphors and language that is relevant - for example, "hear a call for a through ball" and images of children playing soccer is culturally and contextually relevant for many people in Africa. This article speaks to soccer as a "tool for hope". http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/soccer-joy/berlin-text .  

Yet both of these videos also demonstrate voices that might be missing in the MDGs. Can you take a guess which ones might have been missing or less visible?  As a qualitative researcher, I find rich meaning in people's stories and voices. But I also find quantitative data, graphs and other forms of representations of quantitative data useful. 

When looking at large datasets, it is important to represent what the data is communicating. And the representation can be useful for policy in allocating resources, raising awareness, providing focus for efforts.  I find the use of multiple forms of data useful in telling a more complete and rich story. Depending on the context, researchers need to think about the best way to share data that tells a story, and helps to increase understanding, knowledge, and action.  

When you are finished exploring the presentation and resources I would be curious if anything struck you (meaning you saw something anew) from the idea of data as multiple languages. How does this relate to your ideas about research?

Research Proposal Template

Running Head: TITLE OF PROPOSAL NOT TO EXCEED 50 CHARACTERS    Page #

[Insert Title Here]

 [Insert Name Here]

Dominican University, Graduate School of Social Work

Social Work Research Methods

Title page includes title of report, name of the investigator, university and course name, uses APA running head. The title should serve to provide a focus for your research proposal. (3 points)

From Subjects to Indivdiuals: Using Technology To Empower Marginalized Voices

This is a repost of a blog from Maha Hilal on September 21, 2014. Maha Hilal is a doctoral student in Justice, Law & Society at American University in Washington, D.C. Her area of research interest is in the field of human rights, with a focus on survivors of human rights abuses and the adverse consequences they face post-abuse. 

Today's Social Good Summit was ripe with many inspiring and innovative ideas.  Among those was that of using technology to empower marginalized voices such as youth (85 percent live in developing countries).  The use of technology in this way has the potential to shift the discourse away from marginalized people as subjects, but instead narrators of their own story.

For individuals in the global majority, using technology in this fashion presents an opportunity to participate in dialogues surrounding efforts and initiatives that are implemented in their societies and communities.  

Jensine Larson, Founder and CEO of WorldPulse has created a forum whereby women across the world are able to connect with one another and the global community, articulating their perspectives on appropriate solutions that their communities are facing. One way of doing this, as WorldPulse did, was to crowdsource perspectives from women around the globe on ways to address these very issues.  Through a single effort to crowdsource solutions, responses were drawn from women from over 70 countries around the world. 

Technology used in this way, has the power to disrupt hierarchical patterns of power and empower those at the local level, where only those in decision making capacities are able to design and implement programs, projects, etc., by making these marginalized voices active participants in this discussion. Not only does technology, then in this way equalize voices, but also leverages the voices of those that are directly impacted, thus leading to solutions that are appropriately based on each society or community's socio-political culture.  

An important facet of this discussion, was the focus on empowering women specifically through the use of technology. In her talk, Larson gave a powerful statement saying that “a woman with a laptop can be more powerful than a man with a gun."  Technology in this sense can also be a tool through to work towards gender equity and empowerment can be achieved with women being more active participants in the governance of their societies and the local, national and global levels.  

In a world where greater equality and inequality seem to be operating in tandem, technology provides one way of neutralizing these forces, by amplifying the voices of those less frequently heard.

How are we all researchers?

https://www.ted.com/speakers/arunachalam_muruganantham

Link to transcript: https://www.ted.com/talks/arunachalam_muruganantham_how_i_started_a_sanitary_napkin_revolution/transcript?language=en

Arunachalam Muruganantham created a system of simple machines to make modern sanitary napkins — giving millions of women in his home country and around the world access to hygiene.

How does this story demonstrate the following elements in research?

• Curiosity

• Passion

• Asking questions

• Facilitating encounters

• Process of exploration

How does this research topic demonstrate the value of research in social issues?

• Personal interest

• Social welfare needs

• Feasibility

• Practice or policy relevance implications

Social Work Research - The Journey Prezi

Welcome to a Prezi in development about social work research methods. The Prezi is in the beginning of its development, your ideas and feedback are invited to collectively think about the implications related to social work research and social change and social justice. 

Here are some questions to consider:

• What other resources would be useful to include in the roadmap? 
• Are there other videos or stories that will help illustrate the principles, values, methods of social work research? 
• What are other considerations and implications of research approaches and methods that support advancing social change and social justice in social work research? 
• What would you change or add? 
• How might the language currently included in the Prezi better model the values of advancing social change and social justice?

About Health Nest Uganda

This discussion thread will provide information about the work that Health Nest Uganda (http://www.healthnestuganda.org) is doing to support older persons in Entebbe Uganda.

Please introduce yourself!

This space is for introducing ourselves to each other. Please share who you are, how you are connected to the projects or what expertise or interests you have related to our research.