Emotion-Focused Mindfulness Therapy: A Feasibility Study for Late Life Anxiety

Canadians 65 and older experience anxiety at a rate of 6.4%, affecting more than 300,000 people. In Ontario, 5.6% of adults 65 and older have anxiety, representing over 100,000 people. Eastern Ontario primary care clinics report significantly higher numbers of adults 65 and older diagnosed with anxiety at between 28% and 30%, representing approximately 4,600 people diagnosed with anxiety. Costs to the Canadian health care system of anxiety in community dwelling adults aged 65 and older have been estimated at $61.2 to $119.8 million per 1,000,000 people. These costs can reasonably be expected to increase by 2021 when the percentage of older adults 65+ with mental illness is estimated to be approximately 30% of the older population base. Anxiety in older adults has been linked retaining new information and the instrumental activities of daily living, sleep disturbance, suicidal ideation particularly among men, and increased use of health care services. Present pharmacological treatments for anxiety in older adults have met with limited success. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are an area of research interest in the treatment of anxiety. The use of MBIs has shown a trend toward self-reported lower levels of chronic stress and psychological stress among older adults small scale RCTs and qualitative studies. Emotion focused mindfulness meditation therapy (EFMT) is a MBI that shows promise. EFMT has been demonstrated to reduce symptoms of anxiety in general populations. EFMT's focus on meditation and the felt sense of emotions, rather than learning new material, may make it a promising intervention for reducing symptoms of anxiety for older adults who often report normal aging problems such as general forgetfulness and difficulty with word recall. EFMT may be a potentially promising intervention that has not yet been tested in older adults. EFMT can be offered in primary care, community and hospital settings. Further research is required to determine if EFMT could reduce anxiety for older adults.