A Web-Based Gentle Body Stretching to Alleviate Loneliness and Improve Mental Fitness During COVID-19 Isolation Period

Monash University Malaysia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mental Health Issue

Treatments: Behavioral: Non-Mindfulness intervention; Behavioral: Mindfulness intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04394013

180320201

Details and patient eligibility

About

During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are having to stay at home in quarantine to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus. Depending on the number of occupants and the dwelling space available, this can lead to household crowding, which can have an effect on mental health. In addition, the closing of leisure facilities, including restaurants, cafes and, with the need to self-isolate and socially distance, has led to loneliness. The focus on "loneliness" has recently been on a rise, and being described as an epidemic, especially when it has been shown to be associated with various diseases as well as increased risk of mortality. Studies conducted on participants in isolation has shown increased mental health issues including anxiety, stress and depression.

Mindfulness intervention has been shown to alleviate mental health issues including loneliness. However, to date, there is limited studies examining the effectiveness of a remote mindfulness intervention. This proposal aims to deliver a remote mindfulness program that can be accessible by participants easily and even during the isolation period. This intervention will investigate the effectiveness and safety in elevating mental health issues faced by the general population.

Full description

Loneliness, mindfulness and quality of life will be assessed as the primary outcome of the study. A mindfulness video will be used as the intervention for participants, and is compared with a group with similar video content without mindfulness component. The effect of changes in primary outcome will be assessed between groups after 2-4weeks.

Enrollment: 70 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adult participants

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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70 participants in 2 patient groups

Mindfulness Arm

Experimental group

Description:

The content of the approximately 20 minutes video is recorded in advance of the intervention by a certified teacher with teaching experience. The 20 minutes session consists of a series of body stretching exercises (around 17 different gentle and simple stretches from head to toe) with the incorporation of breathing technique (i.e. when to breathe in and breathe out). The whole body stretching exercise is performed with a sitting position, ideally on an exercise mat. As mentioned above, the participants are required to conduct the stretching exercise by following the guidance video for at least 5 days weekly for at least 2 weeks duration. The video will be uploaded onto a webpage which requires participants to log in and view the video. The webpage and video will be accessible through computers and mobile phones.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness intervention

Non-mindfulness Arm

Active Comparator group

Description:

In this study, for control group, the participants are instructed with a similar video content as the intervention group, minus the incorporation of breathing technique, as breathing technique is hypothesised to be a key component of mindfulness.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Non-Mindfulness intervention