The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Perceived Stress and Chronic Diseases Among Adults

The background and significance (B&S) paper is a five (5) page paper in APA 7th edition format (excluding title page, abstract, references and appendices) that could form the introductory section of your clinical scholarly project.

The B&S will introduce a clinical problem and the clinical context that led you to identify the clinical question. You will discuss the relevance of this review to a clinical setting and inland empire (Southern California) community.

You will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of addressing the clinical question in the local setting, and explore the larger contextual impact related to this problem. You will include an appendix with a Matrix of your five (5) research articles.** Please note, this paper will discuss the introductory background literature and theoretical basis related to a clinical question.

Clinical Question in PICO Capstone topic: The effect of mindfulness meditation on perceived stress and chronic diseases among adults. PICO Question: Among adults ages 18 and over, how does participation in mindfulness meditation affect self-reported measures of perceived stress as measured pre and post intervention over a 6-week period P)

All adult participants, age 18 and over with perceived stress I) Mindfulness meditation C) Pre mindfulness meditation perceived stress level and post mindfulness meditation perceived stress level O) Self-reported reduction in stress level t) Over a period of 6 weeks Key words: Stress Mindfulness Meditation Adult Perceived stress scale (PSS) Chronic Diseases COVID-19 Mental Health Nurses

Background

A chronic disease is one that lasts at least three months, during which one experiences repeated cycles of improvement and exacerbation.  Commonly known chronic diseases include cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, and stroke adversely affect our health and ultimately lower the quality of life by prolonging hospitalization, long-term physical disability, and some eventualities such as death.

Stress, on the other hand, is an imbalance between one’s environmental stressors and their capability and available resources to cope with them. When the stressors exceed coping capability and measures, a stress response is activated, which leads to a distressed condition. There is a significant prevalence of perceived stress, which is diagnosed as part of mental health. For instance, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2019) noted that among US adults, 3.9% had been diagnosed with stress leading to 47,173 suicide deaths. The high prevalence has led to 56.8 million physical visits, which increases health care costs, loss in productivity, and reduction in quality of life.

Stress has significant health effects on patients, their family by extension, society. For instance, Hofmann and Gómez (2017) noted that stress leads to anxiety disorder and depression. Similarly, Petrie et al. (2018) noted that stress is associated with increased body weight, which is a risk factor for diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Life stress increases the risk for somatic and physical disorders such as asthma, some cancers, and neurodegenerative disorders, all of which significantly deteriorate lifespan health. As such, stress promotes premature aging and mortality. After analyzing data from 110, 455 Americans, Swartz et al. (2015) found that more stress was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of developing chronic diseases. Sumner et al. (2016) found that persons with stress were 1.48 times likely to develop cardiovascular diseases and had a higher 33% risk of mortality. Similarly, Katsarou et al. (2015) found that higher perceived stress was associated with a 15% higher likelihood of having acute coronary syndrome, with the effect being more in men than women. Also, perceived stress is associated with a 2.3-fold increase in the likelihood of having diabetes (Harris et al., 2017).

The negative effects of stress can be attributed to the fact that it is associated with a reduction in effective dietary intake, such as decreased consumption of fruits and vegetables (Shin & Kim, 2019). Stress increases predilection for energy-dense foods while reducing physical activity, which increases body weight and, ultimately, increased the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Generally, stress undermines the accomplishment of goals given it leads to impaired functioning, burnout syndrome, and other health problems that affect optimum cognitive functioning. Stress also leads to a reduction in self-esteem, academic achievements, and professional development (Colgan et al., 2019).  It is also a risk factor for negative health behaviors such as drug use, smoking, and alcohol abuse. Considered together, these effects show that stress affects disease risk, quality of life, and lifespan.

One of the contemporary treatments of stress and chronic diseases is alternative medicine treatments and mindfulness-based interventions. For instance, a study by Scott-Sheldon et al. (2019) found that the use of mindfulness-based interventions has significant psychological and physiological benefits for persons with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Further, Hofmann and Gomez (2017) noted that the use of mindfulness-based interventions, which are derived from ancient Buddhist and Yoga philosophies, are increasing effective and popular treatments of chronic diseases. However, Wielgosz et al. (2019) noted that less is known about the importance of specific components of mindfulness-based interventions such as mindfulness meditation on the effect of managing stress and chronic diseases. This project will seek to fill this gap.

Problem Statement

According to the Centers for Disease Control (2019), six in 10 adults in the US have one chronic disease, while four out of ten have two or more. At least 34.2 million Americans have diabetes, while a further 88 million have prediabetes hence at risk of type 2 diabetes (CDC, 2019). Further, the CDC (2019) noted that each year at least 868,000 Americans die of stroke and heart disease, which is one-third of all deaths. Chronic diseases need a long time to treat and manage, which increases the demand for health care services. The CDC (2019) noted that chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability and the leading healthcare expenditure of the nation’s $3.5 Trillion in annual health care costs.  In particular, 90% of the nation’s health budget in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions (CDC, 2019). Chronic disease has a negative effect on the economy, which costs the healthcare system $214 billion per year and an annual loss of $138 billion in lost productivity (Benjamin et al., 2019).

The need to treat and manage chronic diseases is highlighted by the fact that they don’t exist in isolation. In particular, one in four US adults has at least one chronic disease, while 50% have more than three chronic conditions (Raghupathi & Raghupathi, 2018). Having one chronic disease increases the chances of getting another given the stress on body organs. For instance, diabetes is a significant risk factor for heart diseases, blindness, and kidney failure, among others (Petrie et al., 2018). The chance of having more comorbidities increases with age.  Given that there 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day from now through the end of 2029, it is feasible that the prevalence of chronic diseases consequently relates negative health effects on individual and the economy (Harding et al., 2019). This shows that there is a need to develop measures that can help patients manage chronic diseases.

Clinical Question

How does participation in mindfulness meditation affect self-reported measures of perceived stress as measured pre and post-intervention over a 6-week period P) All adult participants, age 18 and over with perceived stress I) Mindfulness meditation C) Pre mindfulness meditation perceived stress level and post mindfulness meditation perceived stress level O) Self-reported reduction in stress level t) Over a period of 6 weeks.

Significance

            There is a high prevalence of chronic disease, which is projected to increase given the change in population composition (CDC, 2019). Stress and chronic diseases take the largest part of healthcare expenditure. In particular, 90% of the $3.5 trillion health budget is used to treat and manage chronic diseases. There is also a loss in economic productivity (Benjamin et al., 2019). Further, chronic diseases lead to a significant reduction in quality of life and are the leading cause of disabilities and mortality. These negative effects on individuals, family, society, and the nation show that there is a need to develop and improve existing approaches to treat and manage chronic diseases.  The use of mindfulness-based interventions in the management of chronic diseases is less developed. Further, the application of mindfulness meditation on the effect of managing stress and chronic diseases is not known. The exploration of the effect of mindfulness meditation on perceived stress and chronic diseases among adults may be of great contribution to approaches to managing stress and chronic diseases.

Theoretical Framework

The project will be based on the theory of planned based (TPB). The TPB holds that one’s beliefs and behavior are associated, and they affect health status. The theory is applicable in the project, given that it focuses on intrapersonal factors, which are god predictors for physical activity and dietary behavior (Beattie et al., 2019). The TPB is associated with the theory of mindfulness (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2007). In particular, behavior intentions among mindful persons predict physical activity but not in less-mindful people. In addition, people who are mindful engage in fewer bad behavior such as alcohol consumption, binge drinking, smoking and are more physically active than those who are less mindful (Verplanken & Melkevik, 2008). As such, being mindful enables one to disengage from bad behavior, which will increase the possibility of stress and chronic diseases. This is in line with the project on the effect of mindfulness meditation on perceived stress and chronic diseases among adults

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