Nurturing compassion and cultural humility in health professions students through a brief mindfulness practice.
PEC innovation – December 15, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
Engaging in brief mindfulness practices can significantly enhance compassion and cultural humility among health professions students. In a study involving 58 participants from U.S. undergraduate programs, those who practiced an eight-minute loving-kindness meditation three to four times weekly for two weeks showed notable improvements in mindfulness, compassion, and cultural humility. Effect sizes ranged from small to moderate, suggesting that such exercises are effective tools in health professions education, fostering essential qualities needed for future healthcare providers to address both individual and societal health issues.
Abstract
Given the importance of compassion and cultural humility in healthcare providers, the study aspired to investigate the effects of a brief mindfulness practice on compassion and cultural humility in health professions students. A quantitative, one-group pre-test/post-test study was conducted with 58 participants from undergraduate health profession education programs in the United States. Participants completed questionnaires measuring mindfulness, compassion, and cultural humility before and after engaging in an eight-minute loving-kindness meditation exercise three to four times per week for two weeks. There were statistically significant increases in mindfulness, compassion, and cultural humility after participants engaged in the brief loving-kindness meditation exercise, with small to moderate effect sizes. Brief mindfulness practices may be helpful for cultivating essential qualities such as compassion and cultural humility in health professions students. The findings add to the research gap about the effects of mindfulness on health professions students' compassion and cultural humility. Using mindfulness as a training tool in health professions education may foster compassion, cultural humility, and mindfulness in health professions students who will become healthcare providers, addressing individual health concerns but also broader social issues related to social justice and health equity.