Mindfulness Training for Emotional and Cognitive Health in Late Life

Purpose of Review: There is a growing interest in psychosocial interventions that can enhance emotional and cognitive health in older adults, both to treat psychopathology and/or cognitive decline and to prolong optimum functioning in healthy individuals. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been proposed as an accessible and effective means of promoting emotional and cognitive health. This article reviews recent clinical trials of MBIs in older adults. Recent Findings: There is growing support for MBIs as a means to address mild to moderate clinical concerns, including depression, anxiety, sleep, and subjective memory or other cognitive complains but little evidence that MBIs improve functioning in already healthy individuals. Summary: MBIs may be effective for older adults with mild to moderate emotional and cognitive dysfunction. Future longitudinal work is needed to test if MBIs are an effective means of prevention of emotional or cognitive decline.

Duke Scholars

Author Moria Joy Smoski Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychol ...