Shared meditation involving cancer patients, health professionals and third persons is relevant and improves well-being: IMPLIC pilot study

BACKGROUND: Alleviating suffering and improving quality of life are universally shared goals. In this context, we implemented a pilot study to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a mindfulness intervention in the form of meditation involving together cancer patients, health professionals, and third persons. METHODS: Two groups of 15 participants equally composed of patients, health professionals and third persons were constituted. A dedicated programme on mindfulness and compassion was constructed, including 12 weekly sessions of 1.5 h and a half-day retreat. Adherence and satisfaction with the programme were evaluated. All participants completed questionnaires on perceived stress, quality of life, mindfulness, empathy, and self-efficacy. Burnout was assessed in health professionals. RESULTS: Shared meditation was feasible as 70% of participants attended ≥ 80% of the 13 meditation sessions. Satisfaction with the programme was high (median satisfaction score: 9.1 out of 10) and all participants expressed positive attitudes towards shared meditation and a benefit on their global quality of life. Participants reported significant improvement in stress (p < 0.001), global quality of life (p = 0.004), self-efficacy (p < 0.001), and mindfulness skills (p < 0.001) from baseline to post-programme. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the feasibility of a shared dedicated meditation programme in terms of participation and acceptability of participants. The measured benefits observed among participants furthermore justify the interest of a subsequent randomized study aiming to demonstrate the potential added value of shared meditation by promoting bridge-building between cancer patients, health professionals and others. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT04410185. Registered on June 1, 2020. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-022-03599-w.