Intervention/treatment (MBSR) group
BROWN
All MBSR programs consist of an orientation session followed by eight three-hour weekly sessions. Each session consists of various mindfulness practices such as lying down (body scan), sitting (attention on the breath), and mindful movement (yoga and walking). The curriculum also includes an all-day retreat. In our study, the all-day retreat was originally scheduled for the Saturday of Week-6; however, it was moved to the Wednesday of Week-7, thereby extending the program to 9 weeks. See Table Outline of the MBSR/interventionTimeframe of measurements for participants in MBSR interventionCommonly, MBSR is taught by two instructors. However, in this study, the MBSR course was facilitated by four occupational therapists who were qualified MBSR teachers. Two were primary teachers, and two supported participant adherence and addressed any technological issues that arose before or after the program. MBSR teaching experience ranged between six and 12 years, respectively. Three of the four were trained in the United States (University of Massachusetts or Brown University) and one in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Unlike standard MBSR programs, we introduced an additional component. Each participant who had access to Wi-Fi received a tablet computer (mini-iPad3) to use the Application (App), Insight Timer® [