Study hopes to ease burden among caregivers during stressful time

Bereavement can be emotionally devastating to caregivers, especially to those who have put aside their own needs to support a dying individual.

A new study from researchers at the Michigan State University College of Nursing hopes to propose one way to ease that burden through a nature-based online healing meditation program, thanks to a $157,000 National Cancer Institute grant.

Associate Professor Rebecca Lehto, Professor Emerita Gwen Wyatt and their team plan to recruit 55 caregivers throughout Michigan from hospice, community sites and other sources who were primary caregivers of a patient who recently died from cancer. Participants will engage in six nature-based healing meditation modules online to assist with grief recovery and a small sample will complete a post-experience interview.

“Supporting bereaved cancer caregivers’ emotional health and general well-being is a critical need,” Lehto said. “Our prior research has shown improvement in mental health and quality of life of individuals still providing care for loved ones. This seemed like a logical extension of our earlier work.”

Recently, Lehto, Wyatt and their team evaluated a pilot program centered around having current hospice caregivers put on virtual reality headsets for a minimum of 10 minutes daily over a  five-day period. The headsets included peaceful and relaxing nature scenes. Results from this study demonstrated both acceptability and feasibility while also showing improvements in overall quality of life with reductions in anxiety specifically. Findings from the pilot study were recently published in BMJ Supportive Palliative Care.   While no VR headsets are involved in Lehto’s new project — and the audience is more nuanced — nature will still play a central role. 

“Nature is readily available, and its restorative properties have been recognized for centuries,” Lehto stated.

Lehto and Wyatt will be joined by Assistant Professor Dawn Goldstein from the College of Nursing, as well as Professor Zhehui Luo from the MSU Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

The project is expected to wrap up in 2026.

Story published Oct. 21, 2024