Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Program Delivered by Web to Patients During Hospitalization and Caregivers.

Hospitalization is often a traumatic event so stressful for the life of patients. Isolation, loneliness, worries about clinical examinations, results from examinations and final diagnosis, uncertainty about the future are the most common feelings that patients report when during hospitalized for different disease conditions; these feelings are not related to the pathological condition.Also the discomfort of the caregivers is significant, as the necessities and priorities of the family change significantly during the hospitalization of a member (worries about the future, help and support are not enough to sustain the situation, problems with the work schedule ). Nowadays in North American and North European countries, mindfulness practice is offered to patients by multifaith Chaplaincy teams and health-care operators (e.g. physicians, nurses, psychologists), as a way of helping patients come to terms with diagnosis and adjust to their prognosis. To the extent that patients can bear it, instructions are given to keep coming back to the present moment, here and now, to bodily and affective experience, relaxing in it. To that purpose patients are encouraged to accept the situation as it develops, and let go of excessive concerns and unhelpful narratives that undermine the capacity to manage pain, fear and suffering. Moreover, similar programmes are designed for caregivers and the patients' families, aimed at developing their resilience in delivering the support, via face-to-face sessions, and instructions and encouragement for a regular practice at home.In the last years, due to the dramatic emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic, different applications for mindfulness have been realized by specific APPs or web platforms that allow patients to practice mindfulness regularly guided by a physician or an expert in mindfulness: patients can stay at home and mindfulness sessions can be delivered by technological modalities. In different hospitals, protocols have been implemented for the treatment of patients remotely, using specific platforms or APPs. These remote interventions are complementary to the regular face-to-face sessions and they are suitable for most patients and easily applied.

Inclusion Criteria:Patients aged between 18 and 70 yrs; patients hospitalized at our neurological department; patients at the day hospital servicePatients (age from 18 to 70 yrs) hospitalized suffering from: Chronic migraine with medication overuse; Neuropathic Pain; Multiple Sclerosis are included into the project and caregiversExclusion Criteria:patients not able to understand the italian language; patients with confirmed psychiatric comorbidities; patients who are not able to understand the consent module form and sign it; (or patients with mental capacity issues)Caregivers aged between 18-70 yrs old, will be admitted into the study if they fall in the 18-70 years age bracket, and understand the Italian language , in the absence of psychiatric conditions (reported specific therapy)