The purpose of this scoping review is to investigate how mindfulness was used in physical rehabilitation, identify implications for occupational therapy practice, and guide future research in this area 

Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review - Purpose

- Inclusion criteria for abstract screening: description of a mindfulness intervention, relevance to occupational therapy, and targeting of a disorder addressed in physical rehabilitation.
- Abstracts were based on one last criterion which was satisfied if the mindfulness intervention was provided by a rehabilitation professional, was an addition or alternative to traditional rehabilitation, or if it was provided after traditional rehab had failed. 

Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review - Method

- MBSR: Primary goal was to enhance trait-level mindfulness within the participants. MSBR matched with occupations and activities, education and training, and group interventions within occupational therapy practice.
- General Mindfulness: Goals were occupational engagement, engagement in therapy, reduced anxiety, awareness of bodily sensations, and nonjudgemental attitude. General mindfulness could be described as activities, education, or preparatory methods and tasks 
- ACT: Primary goal was to improve psychological flexibility and engagement in therapy through pain acceptance and buffering of other psychological experiences. ACT was used in these studies as activities, education, or preparatory methods and tasks.
- Mindfulness was found to reduce chronic pain in musculoskeletal pain, work related musculoskeletal injury, and knee surgery either directly or by improving functional outcomes despite pain  
-  Mindfulness did not show any change in patients with aphasia, but showed improved cognitive functioning, reduced symptom distress, and improved physical health in patients with TBI. Also, children with developmental coordination disorder, who participated in mindfulness-enhanced therapy, improved on at least one component of motor coordination. 
- Two other conditions that were studied: MBSR to help women with urge-predominant urinary incontinence and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for vestibular dysfunction and dizziness

Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review - Results 

The studies included in this review support the use of mindfulness interventions to improve chronic pain, patients with TBI, urinary incontinence, and vestibular functioning through the use of MBSR, general mindfulness, and ACT.

Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review - Conclusion

- The majority of the positive studies were level 3 evidence (cohort design)
- Wide variability in mindfulness made it challenging to reach a general conclusion about the effectiveness of mindfulness
- Many studies overrepresented middle-aged White women 

Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review - Limitations

- Purpose
- Method
- Results
- Conclusion 
- Limitations

University of Notre Dame

Hardison, M. E., Roll, S. C.. (2016) Mindfulness Interventions in Physical Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 

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