Session attendance and acceptability
pain
The mean number of sessions the DY participants attended was 12.6 (SD, 4.4); 52% of DY participants attended all 15 sessions, and 81% attended at least 10 sessions. The mean number of sessions the CY participants attended was 10.1 (SD, 5.70); 33% of CY participants attended all 15 sessions, and 62% attended at least 10 sessions. Thus, there was a medium effect (Means of the program evaluation variablesOverall program usefulnessBorg Exertion ScaleSubjective overall benefit of program (mean score)Calm your mindIncrease your emotional wellbeingIncrease your flexibilityIncrease your mental focusIncrease your mobilityImprove your moodIncrease your physical energyIncrease your physical wellbeingImprove your posture and balancePresent more aware of the present momentImprove range of motionRelax your bodyImprove your social relationships with othersIncrease sense of emotional stabilityExpectation of lasting benefit (mean score)
Abbreviations: CY, caregiver yoga; DY, dyadic yoga; ES, effect size; SD, standard deviation.Scores ranged from 1 (“not at all”) to 3 (“very much”).Scores ranged from 0 (“rest”) to 10 (“maximal; just like my hardest race).Scores ranged from 0 (“not at all”) to 6 (“very much”).Scores ranged from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”).Quotes from caregivers illustrating themes related to feasibility and acceptability of the yoga interventionYoga was something I needed to do to take care of myself at the same time as I was taking care of [the patient].
As an old guy, yoga was good because it helped me stretch, and it gave me something to do for me.
I have done yoga on and off for years. I was not in a program and to get back to that and get the calming benefits of it was wonderful for me. It is a lot about the breathing, and the breathing makes you center, and the center makes you calmer.
I think it is just the overall feeling of relaxation and calm and spiritual connection in probably the most challenging time of my life.
Especially right now with the pandemic, we are not allowed to go with [the patient] anywhere, to the appointments or anything. It was something for me to be included in with him and not whooshed out or have to stay outside for.
I think just this time that I spent with [the patient] was important.
Sometimes [the patient] would get anxious or overwhelmed. And I think with the yoga, it helped a lot to be able to find techniques to just relax. We did use it a lot at night to unwind and just be able to sleep.
I know yoga helped [the patient] relax because when we would start doing the relaxing techniques, he would fall asleep. So that might be the only time he would sleep.
Yoga helped [the patient] get in and out of the bathtub; it seemed to loosen his muscles and gave him more flexibility.
Yoga just gave us time to focus on our bodies and movement.
I really liked yoga because it was really good for us to do it together; it gave us something to do. We looked forward to it.
I would say yoga was a bright star because it gave us something to look forward to.
Yoga is something to take our mind off of what else is going on, and I was really thankful for that time. It made a long‐drawn‐out situation a little bit better.
I was thankful for just the pause in the day. Yoga ended up being almost like a retreat for me in a lot of ways just to help take my mind off of things. The yoga did help in that it broke the day and introduced another person into our life that kind of helped us have a different thought pattern.
Yoga gave me some time to get away. It forced me to take time off and just relax.
Yoga was an absolutely wonderful escape from the situation and it helped me significantly get through it all. It gave me an outlet to be able to do that for forty‐five minutes every day.
I think doing yoga would be really good for her. It was for me.
I would go back and do yoga more with the patient and the caregiver. I think that would be a good connection for the two, and I think it would benefit the patient. I thought the yoga program was wonderful. I thought it was a great way for the hospital to reach out past the patient. But I do think it needs to be patient and caregiver if both feel up to it and are able to do it.
Virtual setting was convenient for caregivers participating in the yoga interventionIt was actually easier because I didn’t have to leave work early or anything like that. So that was good. I was even able to do it while on vacation, so that worked as well. It wasn’t challenging at all.
I liked the fact that it was remote because I didn’t have to spend time going somewhere, leaving somewhere, or being away from the patient.
I wish we would have been able to meet in person and actually be in front of the instructor. But it was a good experience overall.
We did yoga by video; maybe if I would have been able to do it in person, that might have been a little better, but I don't think I missed anything by doing it through a Zoom meeting.
And even now sometimes, when [the patient] is on chemo and he is not feeling well, or he is just feeling anxious, we will do some of the relaxation yoga that we have available still.
Well, we have continued that. I mean, we both stretch. We stretch each other now. We are doing a little bit of that before, but we do a lot of things. But he has gotten so much better. I mean, it is hard to point out what he was able to do then and what he can do now. It is like night and day.
I think that it would be great if I had the time. I did yoga as much as I could. I don't have the time, but I think it would be a good way to refocus and not be so anxious.
I intended on doing yoga when I left Houston. I mean, I really did, and we got back home I did not make time for it and have not made time for it. I have a lot of issues with pain in my hip and if I could have kept it up, it might have helped with some of that.
