Mindfulness-based Intervention and Relapse Rates in Adults with a History of Substance Use Disorder

Practice Problem: Substance abuse disorder (SUD) has become an increasingly prevalent community health problem worldwide, affecting individuals in all geographical regions regardless of age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status, despite decades of efforts to find a solution (Bowen et al., 2014). A lack of treatment engagement and substance‐misuse crisis calls attention to the effectiveness of relapse‐sensitive care and treatments. PICOT: The question addressed in this evidence-based project was “ In adults over 18 years of age with substance use disorder (P), how does the effect of mindfulness-based treatment (I), compared with no mindfulness-based treatment (C), reduce the risk of relapse (O), in 3 months (T)?” Evidence: Evidence exists to support that Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) significantly reduced the incidence of relapse in adult patients with a history of SUD by decreasing symptoms related to substance abuse craving or use. Intervention: Mindfulness-based practice consisting of meditation and mindful breathing exercises, motivational interviewing and relapse prevention cognitive therapy was implemented to reduce incidence of relapse in adults with a history of SUD. Outcome: Findings revealed a less than 15% reduction in incidence after three months of MBI implementation. Conclusion: The results indicate that the reduction in the risk of relapse in adult patients with a history of SUD post implementation was not significantly significant. The reduction also indicated a clinically significant improvement in relapse outcomes two months after implementing MBI.