FREE four-session Compassionate Mindful Resilience programme
Working in partnership, Kidney Care UK, Queen’s University Belfast and MindfulnessUK are offering a free mindfulness programme developed by Mindfulness UK for people with Stage 4 or 5 kidney disease or who have received a kidney transplant. Registration is now open with small groups being set up to run the programme in four week blocks between May and October 2022.
Register for the Compassionate Mindful Resilience programme
Learning to enhance your overall wellbeing
Learning to be kinder to yourself and build emotional resilience does not mean that you won’t experience stress or emotional upheaval, but you can learn skills that may help you work through emotional pain and develop techniques which may help you cope with feelings of depression or anxiety to enhance your overall wellbeing.
This unique four-week CMR programme has been designed by MindfulnessUK and will be delivered in small virtual groups over a two-hour, weekly session using Zoom. It will be taught by a qualified mindfulness teacher, who will talk individually with every participant before the course starts and complete an assessment to discuss your specific needs and make sure this course is right for you.
As part of the course, you will be encouraged to practise mindfulness techniques for a minimum of 10 minutes a day, 5 days per week, and keep a diary of your experiences.
Insights from the course will benefit other kidney patients
The CMR programme is being offered for free to 75 participants, but the data will be collected as part of a larger feasibility research study, evaluating the delivery of the course. Researchers will evaluate the suitability of the programme and its potential to become an additional opportunity to provide emotional wellbeing support in the future, supplementing the free Advocacy and Counselling services already provided by Kidney Care UK.
All of those who take part will be asked to complete a questionnaire before and after completing the programme, and then again three and six months later as a follow up.
The Compassionate Mindful Resilience programme: your questions answered
How do I register to take part in the CMR programme?
To register your interest in taking part please read the eligibility criteria below and then complete the registration form online.
Am I eligible for the programme?
The programme is available to those living with stage 4 or stage 5 kidney disease or anyone who has received a kidney transplant.
Please note you must be over 18 and live in the UK, with access to the internet via a smartphone, computer, or laptop to take part.
We do not recommend taking part in the study if you are currently undergoing psychotherapy such as counselling, or are experiencing a severe period of anxiety, depression, mental illness, addiction, recent bereavement or a traumatic life event.
What happens after I register?
The programme research assistant, Anna Wilson, will get in touch with you within a couple of weeks and send you a Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form, which you will need to read and sign.
If you consent to take part in the study, you will then be referred to the mindfulness teacher, either Dr Helen Noble or Dr Michele Kavanagh, for an assessment to understand your specific needs and your suitability for the programme more fully.
How do I know if the course will be the right fit for me?
Before being accepted on to the programme the mindfulness teacher will talk individually with every participant and complete an assessment to discuss your specific needs and make sure this course is right for you.
Will I be part of the research?
The programme being piloted will be helping to shape the way that support is available to kidney patients in the future. Researchers at Queens University Belfast have partnered with Kidney Care UK and MindfulnessUK to explore the effectiveness of the Compassionate Mindful Resilience programme on anxiety, depression, self-compassion, mindfulness, wellbeing and building resilience.
The anonymised data from this course will be collected as part of a larger feasibility research study. This will be used by researchers to gauge how helpful the programme has been and to work out its potential to help provide emotional wellbeing support in the future, alongside existing support services already provided by Kidney Care UK.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a skill that we can learn and practice to improve our overall wellbeing. While it can’t prevent us from experiencing stress or emotional upheaval, it can help us manage our reactions and responses to everyday living and difficult events.
How will the course help me?
Working with a mindfulness practitioner in small groups you will develop skills and techniques which may help support you through emotional pain and help you cope during difficult times.
Is mindfulness the same as psychotherapy?
Although mindfulness and psychotherapy can be complementary practices, mindfulness is not a replacement for psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy tends to focus on “self in relationship to others”, whereas mindfulness primarily examines “self in relationship to self”. It can provide personal learning on how to be more aware of thoughts, feelings, emotions, surroundings, and situations, and how to reduce automatic responses.
What days and times will the programme take place?
The course will be taught by a qualified mindfulness teacher and delivered in small virtual groups over a two-hour weekly session via Microsoft Teams.
We plan to run the two-hour sessions at different times throughout the day. During registration you will be asked to indicate when would be the best time of day for you to take part in the CMR programme and on which days. The team will do their best to accommodate your preference.
What commitment do I need to make to take part?
We ask that everyone who commits to the mindfulness programme tries to attend all the sessions. As part of the course, you will be encouraged to practise mindfulness techniques for a minimum of 10 minutes a day, 5 days per week and keep a diary of your experiences that you can reflect on in the future.
In order to assess the effectiveness of the programme you will be asked to complete a questionnaire before and after completing the programme, and then again three and six months later as a follow up. There will also be an opportunity to take part in an interview to provide feedback on your experience of the programme.
How many spaces are available for the course?
The course will be open to 75 participants in total. Participants will then be taught in small groups over a weekly session lasting two hours via Zoom.
Who should I contact if I have questions?
For more information, please contact the programme research assistant at [email protected].
