Mindfulness-Based Applications for Health Promotion in People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

摘要

Health promotion refers to self management strategies and methods that people can use to improve their mental and physical health. In recent years, mindfulness has emerged as an important clinical intervention for health promotion, although its use across populations has been uneven. In this paper, we review the research literature on the applications of mindfulness-based interventions in two critical areas of health wellness: weight reduction and smoking in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The rather limited extant research suggests that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can master multiple mindfulness-based interventions and adjunctive wellness procedures to manage their weight and to eliminate smoking from their lifestyles. However, this suggestion is based on a very small number of studies that need systematic and direct replication before clinical recommendations can be made with any degree of confidence.