Mind-Body Interventions for Rehabilitation Medicine: Promoting Wellness, Healing, and Coping with Adversity.

Physical medicine providers work to cure organic aspects of disease while simultaneously enhancing quality of life and well-being. Mind-body interventions are evidence-based, cost-effective approaches to serve these aims. This article enhances provider knowledge and acceptance of the most effective and prevalent mind-body modalities: meditation, guided imagery, clinical hypnosis, and biofeedback. The scientific evidence is strongest for mind-body applications for chronic pain, primary headache, cardiac rehabilitation, and cancer rehabilitation, with preliminary evidence for traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular events. Mind-body interventions are well-tolerated by patients and should be considered part of standard care in physical medicine and rehabilitation settings.

Gender differences in caregiver strain, needs for support, social support, and quality of life among spousal caregivers of persons with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Caregivers of individuals with MS may experience unique caregiver strain due to the age at onset and progressive nature of the disease. Additionally, because MS is more prevalent in women, men often become spousal caregivers. However, gender differences in psychosocial adjustment among caregivers have not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in the need for various supports and type of social support needed, caregiver strain, and quality of life among caregivers for individuals with MS. METHODS: 106 caregivers participated in this study. Independent sample t-tests and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine gender differences in strain, need for supports, social support, and quality of life. RESULTS: Analyses revealed gender difference among important psychosocial variables. Specifically, women reported higher levels of caregiver strain, higher needs for emotional support, and higher perceived social support. Additionally, multiple regression analyses revealed an inverse relationship between expressed emotional needs and quality of life for men, but not for women. CONCLUSIONS: MS caregivers experience significant strain that diminishes quality of life. Social support and needs fulfillment can act to buffer this stress; however, results indicate that this varies by gender, with gender differences observed in strain, perceived support, and expressed needs among MS caregivers. The study implications for rehabilitation research are discussed.