Integrating meditation into healthcare through a community pharmacy

Abstract

Background: Meditation has been practiced for many centuries by people of all parts of the world. Although meditation is widely known to include mindfulness practices, it is not given the importance it deserves within the healthcare system. With the increasing use of technology in today’s world, there are opportunities to integrate the use of mindful meditation apps to improve overall health. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the customers of a community pharmacy may benefit from using the Insight Timer© app. ☐ Methods: A quality improvement (QI) project over eight weeks was conducted using the Insight Timer© mediation app in customers who come to a single community pharmacy to pick up or drop off their prescription. Participants (n=78) downloaded the Insight Timer© app and completed a post survey questionnaire to assess their thoughts on the usability of the app along with perceived overall health benefits. ☐ Results/Findings: The data was collected using questionnaires. The results indicated that 72/78 (92%) participants reported the app was easy and they felt in increase in overall health and wellbeing. Additionally, the participants integrated the app as adjunctive therapy as app usage increased frequency increased over the eight-week period. ☐ Conclusion: Given the 92% retention rate at the end of the project, the findings align with existing literature, indicating the positive impact of meditation on health and wellness. The evolving shift in pharmacists' roles to encompass health promotion, education, and prevention aligns with the evidence gathered from this project. Integrating meditation using the Insight Timer© app offered at a community pharmacy may demonstrate using meditation as a nonpharmacological intervention within the pharmacy setting. ☐ Keywords: mindfulness, meditation app, Insight Timer, integrative health