Mindfulness

Mindfulness

In addition to people accessing mindfulness courses for their own health and wellbeing, there are many professionals who would like a greater understanding of how it can support the people they are working with – for example in healthcare and social care, education and the criminal justice system.

Introduction to Mindfulness is a short elearning programme to provide people with an overview of what mindfulness is. It provides a definition of mindfulness, the evidence for it and where to get more information for further resources and support. The programme has been developed as part of the MindEd programme with support from Health Education England.

Ideally people would complete a face-to-face or online mindfulness programme and embody the experience. However, it is a large commitment in terms of time. Therefore, the development of a short session to address the gap to provide a free of charge, open access, short course on mindfulness provides some essential information in a simple and comprehensive format.

More information

Mindfulness and mindfulness practices are not new and have origins in Buddhism. In the last 40 years they have been developed into the secular approaches termed ‘mindfulness’, usually delivered in two-hour weekly sessions for a period of eight weeks.

Mindfulness has also been an integral component of training in psychological therapies and mental health practitioner training and may be offered to people as part of their psychological therapies.

Mindfulness is an approach to wellbeing that may be appropriate for people to adopt as part of their self-care. For learners who are using a person and community-centred approach to the conversations they are having with the people they are working with, there is a need to have a better understanding of what mindfulness is and what it isn’t, who it may be beneficial to and how people can access it.

The aim of the Introduction to Mindfulness programme is to increase awareness and understanding of what mindfulness is. On completion, learners will have a greater appreciation of its use and the benefits to individuals. By the end of the session, learners should be able to:

• Define what mindfulness is
• Describe the evidence base for mindfulness
• Identify the key components of mindfulness
• Evaluate whether mindfulness may be an appropriate approach for someone
• List the sources of further information and where to signpost people to for more resources and support.

Mindfulness - elearning for healthcare