Mindfulness for Older Adult Caregivers
Learn mindfulness techniques to face life's challenges with greater calm and mental resilience.
Course Overview
The Mindfulness for Older Adult Caregivers programme has been offered since 2020 and has been specifically designed to meet the needs of older adult caregivers. It offers practical, evidence-based tools to support your mental health and well-being, helping you to manage stress, restore balance, and build resilience to face day to day challenges. Over a series of gentle, guided sessions, you will learn simple mindfulness practices that can be woven into everyday life. The group format creates a supportive space to pause, reconnect, and share experiences with others who understand the rewards and demands of caring.
Is This Course For You?
Many caregivers tend not to recognise themselves as a carer. We want to ensure that people can access our course irrespective of the type or amount of care they are providing. For example, you may provide unpaid help and support to a family member, partner, friend, or neighbour. The programme is specifically designed for older adults, typically aged over 65.​
What is the Cost?
There is no cost for the programme, it is fully funded through NHS and local authority partnerships
What to Expect
The group runs over six consecutive weeks; you’ll meet in a closed, supportive group, followed by a Reflection and Review session to share your experience of the programme.
After the course, you’ll have the option to join or create a Community of Practice, to continue practising mindfulness together.
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Online via Zoom, daytime hours for accessibility
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Led by a BAMBA-Registered Mindfulness Teacher
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Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions to fully benefit
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Home practice helps you bring mindfulness into daily life
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Access to guided recordings and downloadable handouts
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10-15 minutes per day at a pace that suits you
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Brief questionnaires before, during, and after the course track your progress
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You’ll receive a personalised outcomes report, showing the impact of your practice
Measurable Improvements in Wellbeing
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68% of participants with depression symptoms in the clinical range showed a reduction in PHQ-9 scores at the end of the programme.
(Mindfulness Programmes for Carers)
82% of participants with clinical
levels of anxiety reduced their GAD-7
scores by programme completion.
(Mindfulness Programmes for Carers)
What Participants Tell Us
"I was incredibly anxious and I'm not an anxious person. But I'm now finding myself again"
NS, June 2022
"Being at home and close, I think, is important for people who are still caring for somebody at home"
SA, November 2025
HARRY'S STORY
Harry (75) is a full-time carer who has supported his wife, who lives at home with dementia, for over thirteen years. After noticing his own mental health and stress levels worsening, Harry decided to try something new for himself and joined our 6 week online Mindfulness for Older Adult Caregivers course, looking for a more holistic way to support his wellbeing. Hear from Harry below:
Current Programmes
Mindfulness for Older Adults who Care
This course is for carers aged over 65 in Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire/Peterborough.
Course Teacher: Ruth McDonald Course Starts: Thursday 5th November 2026 Time: 10:00am-11:00am Session 1: Thursday 5th November Session 2: Thursday 12th November Session 3: Thursday 19th November Session 4: Thursday 26th November Session 5: Thursday 3rd December Session 6 and Reflection & Review: Thursday 10th December
Mindfulness for Older Adults who Care
This course is for carers aged over 65 in Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire/Peterborough.
Course Teacher: Jane Anderson Course Starts: Tuesday 23rd February 2027 Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm Session 1: Tuesday 23rd February Session 2: Tuesday 2nd March Session 3: Tuesday 9th March Session 4: Tuesday 16th March Session 5: Tuesday 23rd March Session 6: Tuesday 30th March
Research that informs our work
We draw on well-established research to guide how our programmes are designed and delivered. The papers below outline some of the evidence base behind the principles and practices we use, for those who would like to learn more.
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Title: A Pilot Online Mindfulness Intervention to Decrease Caregiver Burden and Improve and Psychological Well-Being
Authors: R Tkatch, D Bazarko, S Musich, et al.
Journal: Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (Vol 22.4 2017) VIEW PDF
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Title: Mindfulness training for people with dementia and their caregivers: rationale, current research, and future directions
Authors: L Berk, F Warmenhoven, J Van Os & M Van Boxtel
Journal: Frontiers in psychology (Vol 9 2018) VIEW PDF​​