Processes and Feasibility of Implementing a Mindfulness Self-Care Training Course Among Undergraduate Health Professions Programs

Health professionals often experience industry-specific stressors that contribute to reduced worker well-being, compromised care, and worker resignation. Research shows that self-care practices of mindfulness and self-compassion may lessen the impact of these stressors and contribute to greater well-being for self and others. This paper explores the processes and feasibility of a pilot study aimed at self-care capacity building among students enrolled in undergraduate health professions degree programs. Practices from transformative learning pedagogy such as critical reflection, collaborative inquiry, and unitive discourse were carefully utilized in a mindfulness training course to support perspective transformation and meaning-making around self-care. Insights from this study may inform the development of student preparedness efforts in undergraduate programs and encourage the use of mindfulness and transformative learning for capacity building in educative settings.