Evaluating a mindfulness-based group intervention for adults with intellectual disabilities

This study aims to assess the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a six-session MI group [the Coping Well Group (CWG)] delivered within routine clinical practice.
Six separate cohorts (n = 25) of adults with ID attended CWG. Quantitative data were collected from service users, including a pre- and post-quality of life (QoL) measure and qualitative data from group facilitators.
Roughly one-half (53%) of service users invited to the group attended at least one session, with low levels of dropout observed among group attendees. A significant improvement in QoL was reported demonstrating a small effect (d = 0.46, p = 0.022) after attending the group. Most service users (72%) were referred to the CWG for help managing difficult emotions. One-half (44%) of attendees required individual therapy after attending the group. Limitations of the evaluation and potential future research are discussed.
The current evaluation contributes a practice-based service evaluation of an MI group for people with ID and mental health difficulties to the currently limited evidence base. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to investigate the impact of group psychological interventions collecting data across cohorts and assessing QoL, a more general measure of well-being than has been used previously.

Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - February 25, 2022 Category: Disability Authors: Niall Power Gregg H. Rawlings Claire Bennett Source Type: research