title: Mantram Repetition With Homeless Women: A Pilot Study.
abstract: Women and families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Negative attitudes of nurses toward homeless women are a major barrier to homeless women seeking health care. This cross-sectional, mixed-methods pilot study, conducted primarily by nurses, tested the Mantram Repetition Program for the first time with 29 homeless women. The Mantram Repetition Program is a spiritually based skills training that teaches mantram (sacred word) repetition as a cost-effective, personalized, portable, and focused strategy for reducing stress and improving well-being. For the cross-sectional, pretest-posttest design portion of the study, the hypothesis that at least half of the homeless women would repeat their mantram at least once a day was supported with 88% of the women repeating their mantram 1 week later. The qualitative portion of this study using phenomenology explored the women's thoughts on mantram week 2. Themes of mantram repetition, mantram benefits, and being cared for emerged. This groundbreaking, interventional, mixed-methods pilot study fills a gap in interventional homeless research.
authors.affiliation: University of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science & the Betty and Bob Beyster Institute for Nursing Research, Advanced Practice, and Simulation, San Diego, California (Drs Weinrich, Bormann, Glaser, Hardin, and Barger); Department of Veterans Affairs, Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California (Dr Bormann); Sharp Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, California (Ms Lizarraga); Amikas, San Diego, California (Mr del Rio); and Military Sexual Trauma & Interpersonal Trauma Clinic, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California (Dr Allard).
authors.forename: Sally P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Weinrich
authors.forename: Jill E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bormann
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Glaser
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hardin
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barger
authors.forename: Cabiria
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lizarraga
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Rio
authors.forename: Carolyn B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Allard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness; D010865:Pilot Projects; D026443:Spiritual Therapies