title: Meditation training for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their caregivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease that is clinically characterized by progressive weakness leading to death by respiratory insufficiency, usually within three years. Although the patient's intellect and personality usually remain unimpaired, as the disease progresses, the patient becomes immobile, develops wasting, and speech becomes impaired, often resulting in social isolation and a high degree of psychological suffering. Mindfulness meditation has proven to be effective technique for reducing distress in many chronic diseases. However, to date, no study has investigated the effect of mindfulness meditation on patients with ALS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mindfulness meditation training program for ALS patients needs to consider the particularities of ALS symptoms, including the loss of muscular functions and difficulties in respiration, together with the subsequent emotional impairments. With these caveats in mind, a modified protocol, based on original mindfulness meditation interventions, has been created specifically for the ALS population. This article describes the protocol and preliminary results.
authors: 1 Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan , Italy .
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Pagnini
authors: Chiara
authors: C
authors: Di Credico
authors: Ramona
authors: R
authors: Gatto
authors: Viviana
authors: V
authors: Fabiani
authors: Gabriella
authors: G
authors: Rossi
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Lunetta
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Marconi
authors: Federica
authors: F
authors: Fossati
authors: Gianluca
authors: G
authors: Castelnuovo
authors: Aurora
authors: A
authors: Tagliaferri
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Banfi
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Corbo
authors: Valeria
authors: V
authors: Sansone
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Molinari
authors: Gherardo
authors: G
authors: Amadei
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods*; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods*; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods*