Nurturing compassion and cultural humility in health professions students through a brief mindfulness practice.

An eight-minute loving-kindness meditation practiced three to four times per week for two weeks led to small to moderate increases in mindfulness, compassion, and cultural humility among 58 undergraduate health professions students in the United States. The findings suggest that brief mindfulness practices may help cultivate these qualities in future healthcare providers, potentially addressing social justice and health equity issues.

Study at a glance

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.