Nature-Focused Mindfulness and Spiritual Well-being Among Adults with Moderate Prolonged Grief Symptoms

University of Twente

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Grief; Spiritual Wellbeing

Treatments: Behavioral: Nature-focused mindfulness; Behavioral: Noticing-nature

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06904976

250441

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate whether a nature-focused mindfulness intervention can enhance spiritual well-being and reduce grief symptoms among adults with moderate prolonged grief symptoms. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does a nature-focused mindfulness intervention improve spiritual well-being compared to an active control condition (noticing nature) and a waitlist control condition?

Does a nature-focused mindfulness intervention reduce grief severity and improve mental well-being, nature connectedness, selflessness, ability to adapt, personal recovery, and elevation compared to control conditions?

How do spiritual well-being, ability to adapt, nature connectedness, selflessness, grief reactions, and positive/negative affect change during the intervention period?

Researchers will compare a nature-focused mindfulness intervention to both a noticing-nature active control group and a waitlist control group to isolate mindfulness-specific effects from possible general nature exposure benefits.

Participants will:

Complete baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up assessments (at one and three months) Engage in either 10 sessions of nature-focused mindfulness practice or noticing nature activities over a two-week period (intervention and active control groups) Provide daily diary responses about their experiences throughout the 14-day intervention period

Enrollment: 230 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Be a family member, spouse, or friend of a person who died at least 6 months prior to study enrollment;
• Be ≥18 years of age;
• Report moderate subclinical grief (score range from 47-70) based on the Traumatic Grief Inventory-Self Report Plus (TGI-SR+, Lenferink, Eisma, et al., 2022);
• Have access to a natural environment suitable for the intervention;
• Be willing and able to move in nature daily (with or without mobility assistance devices) and engage in brief mindfulness practices;
• Have sufficient Dutch language proficiency;
• Have access to Internet and mobile applications.

Exclusion criteria

• Acute suicide risk assessed in the screening step;
• A score lower than 47 or higher than 70 on TGI-SR+;
• Physical limitations that prevent moving outdoors for 30 minutes daily, even with mobility assistance devices.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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230 participants in 3 patient groups

Nature-focused mindfulness

Experimental group

Description:

10 minutes walking to a chosen natural location, 10 minutes guided mindfulness practice, 10 minutes walking back.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Nature-focused mindfulness

Noticing-nature

Active Comparator group

Description:

walk in nature for 30 minutes per day and pay attention to how the natural objects/scenes they encounter in their daily surroundings make them feel over the 14-day period.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Noticing-nature

Waitlist

No Intervention group