Research

BCALM, Mindfulness meditation, Victoria British ColumbiaThere is a wealth of information freely available in the medical literature and on the internet about the effectiveness of mindfulness training for a broad array of conditions, so in this regard there is little debate (for an excellent resource, see the American Mindfulness Research Association website (https://goamra.org)).

Current researchers are looking to characterize the mechanisms by which mindfulness has its benefits, and how these might be related to underlying neurological structures and processes. Research is also looking into how mindfulness training affects various groups of people (e.g. elderly, youth), and those with various conditions (e.g. insomnia, ADHD, bipolar disorder).

An important area of research investigates how benefits that have been demonstrated under controlled research conditions translate into real life. With our ALM groups, we intend to be able to contribute to research in this area, although do not currently have the research infrastructure to support formal studies.

We are, however, actively recruiting patients to help us with quality improvement processes. Feedback is invited from all participants when they conclude the course, and we use these data to help us shape the content and delivery of future mindfulness courses.