A qualitative exploration into the benefits of an online mindfulness meditation intervention for people with asthma, recruited in primary care

Problem

Asthma is a chronic condition requiring long-term treatment and management, negatively impacting daily life, relationships and quality of life. Digital behavioural/psychological interventions can improve quality of life for asthma patients provided they are engaging and relevant. We aimed to understand the experience and perceptions of people with asthma who used 'Headspace', an online mindfulness intervention, for six weeks.

Approach

Twenty participants (purposively selected from 160 participants in the trial) completed semi-structured interviews 6 weeks after entering the trial. Interviews were analysed with inductive thematic analysis. They addressed the experience of living with asthma, and the relevance and usefulness of non-pharmacological interventions for people with asthma, and costs/benefits of digital interventions for asthma.

Findings

Participants all agreed that quality of life is an important outcome for interventions. They described quality of life mainly in terms of activity limitation, and anxiety about specific activities triggering asthma attacks. Participants valued non-pharmacological interventions but noted that interventions should be asthma-specific (rather than general mindfulness or anxiety-reducing). Finally, participants appreciated the newly-acquired awareness of their breathing as well as the accessible nature of the digital intervention.

Consequences

Our findings have important implications for the development of future digital interventions for people with asthma that target quality of life, highlighting the need for disease-specific components to ensure interventions are engaging and acceptable.