from Northwestern Medicine
Certain chronic illnesses and certain disease not only take a toll on the patient, but also on care-givers—usually close family members. Researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine say mindfulness training for Alzheimer’s patients AND their caregivers resulted in lower depression scores, improved sleep quality and improved quality of life for both the patients and caregivers. Lead author Ken Paller, professor of psychology at Northwestern says although the participants know things will likely get worse, they can learn to focus on the present, deriving enjoyment in the moment with acceptance and without excessive worry about the future. That is what is taught in the mindfulness program. The patients who had mild to severe memory loss were still able to use other cognitive functions to participate in the mindfulness training and to experience emotion and positive feelings.