Skip to main content

Table 5 Major themes and sub-themes

From: Mindfulness-based stress reduction for community-dwelling older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in primary care: a mixed-methods feasibility randomized control trial

Themes and Subthemes

Sample Quotes

Theme 1: Unique Features of Primary Care

 Trust and feeling safe with staff and institution

(P#11, age 61) “I trust this setting. I trust the people [staff] here.”

OT #3) “there was a sense of trust; trust came up a lot for people that it felt kind of safe...”

 Collaborative team-based care

OT #2) “it’s beneficial to have a connection to family physicians, other members of the team, and being able to provide care in a way that there is more collaboration and more team communication between the team members … “

Theme 2: Satisfaction and Perceived Benefits

 Mental health benefits

(P#21, age 60), “seeing benefits in my state of relaxation and reactions to daily issues.”

(P#16, age 68), “I found it was calming … makes me feel emotionally better.”

(P#18, age 61), “There has been a change in my mental karma, it is now more peaceful.”

 Social Support

(P#2, age 82) “.. we end up caring about each other and taking care of each other...”

(OT #3), “I think the group alone provided a sense of social support, and community for people”

 Personal insights on self-care

OT #1) “across the board for most people was this realization of the need for self-kindness, self-care...”

 Responding differently versus reacting

(P#7, age 79), “I’m not following my former habits. I’m sick of falling into that hole... Quicker recovery. Less ruminating.”

 Adoption mindfulness practice to day-to-day activities

(P#16, age 68), “I find it easier to do [breathing] whenever I am waiting for someone or something”.

(P#27, age 60), “I loved the walking one. I never thought about walking being as complex and difficult as it is.”

 An alternative to medication(s)

(P#27, age 60), “I think eventually this will make some of my other pills go away.”

 More than memory, other benefits

(P#11, age 61), “..This class teaches you more than memory. This is kind of like a change … on how to live your life. And it came for me in a very opportune time.”

Theme 3: Connecting to the World

 Acceptability of technology

(P#16, age 68), “I’m not afraid of technology.”

(P#23, age 74), “I am grateful for the opportunity to learn to use the iPad.”

(P#11, age 61), “I think seniors are natural to technology actually.”

 Portability of technology

(P#27, age 60), “I found that it was so portable … “

OT #2) “It’s portable- this particular size of the device … [and] … very accessible at the touch of a button.”

 Minimum barriers around technology

(P#23, age 74), “I was away up in a trailer for a while. And you know the CDs were helpful there, cause I didn’t have the Wi-Fi.”

 The importance of support in place for technology

(P#2, age 82), “But there was also help – I had – a problem.. and it got fixed – you had a problem, and it got fixed. Mine got stuck in a place where I couldn’t figure it out. Well, actually a couple of times I had to call up [PI] and say, ‘What’s going on?’“

(P#23, age 74), “I don’t use that much technology, so using the iPad was new for me. And I had some difficulties at the beginning..”

(OT #2), “a lot of questions- they were very simple questions … it was pretty much just how to use the app or how to log into the internet.”