Cultivating well-being in engineering graduate students through mindfulness training.

The mental health crisis in graduate education combined with low treatment rates among engineering graduate students underscores the need for engineering graduate programs to provide effective methods to promote well-being. There is an extensive body of neuroscience research showing that contemplative practices, such as mindfulness, produce measurable effects on brain function and overall well-being. We hypothesized that a mindfulness-based training program designed for engineering graduate students would improve emotional well-being and, secondarily, enhance research capacity.

Mindfulness Meditation-Based Intervention Is Feasible, Acceptable, and Safe for Chronic Low Back Pain Requiring Long-Term Daily Opioid Therapy.

Objective: Although mindfulness meditation (MM) is increasingly used for chronic pain treatment, limited evidence supports its clinical application for opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP). The goal of this study was to determine feasibility, acceptability, and safety of an MM-based intervention in patients with CLBP requiring daily opioid therapy.

Design: 26-week pilot randomized controlled trial comparing MM-based intervention, combined with usual care, to usual care alone.

Mindfulness Meditation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention Reduces Pain Severity and Sensitivity in Opioid-Treated Chronic Low Back Pain: Pilot Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To assess benefits of mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based intervention for opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Design: 26-week parallel-arm pilot randomized controlled trial (Intervention and Usual Care versus Usual Care alone).

Setting: Outpatient.