The effect of mindfulness-based intervention on perceived stress in family caregivers of patients with cancer

Introduction:  Today, care giving is an important phenomenon and family members are at the forefront of providing care to patients with chronic illness, such as cancer. Care-giving can affect the mental health of caregivers; therefore, psychological interventions for caregivers seem necessary. This study was conducted to determine the effect of mindfulness-based intervention on perceived stress of family caregivers of cancer patients. Methods: This was a clinical trial conducted on two control and intervention groups with before and after design, in which 55 family caregivers of cancer patients were selected through convenience sampling and they were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 27) or control (n = 28). For the intervention group, the mindfulness program was performed in 8 sessions per week for 2 hours per session. Data were collected through perceived stress questionnaires before and after intervention and analyzed by independent t-test and paired t-test at a significant level of 0/05. Results: After performing mindfulness program, the mean stress score in the intervention group decreased from (22/18 ± 2/09) to (18/29 ± 2/86), which indicated a significant reduction in stress in this group (p<0/001) while the control group had no significant difference before (22/07 ± 1/41) and after (21/92 ± 2/12) the intervention (p=0/68). Conclusions: The findings of this study showed that the perceived stress in the intervention group decreased, meaning that the mindfulness program was effective in reducing the stress of caregivers of cancer patients. Therefore, this program can be used for educational content of other caregivers.