Mind-Body Approaches for Medical Conditions

Chronic diseases are currently the most prevalent and most costly health conditions world-wide, and morbidity is expected to increase over coming years. Factors such that increased life-expectancy and certain life style-related factors, such as smoking, high-fat diet and alcohol-consumption, are commonly associated with the increase in most of the common chronic diseases. However, more complex psychosocial factors such as depression, stress, work-related dynamics and thinking patterns are thought be associated with poor health status and impaired health related quality of life among patients with suffering from chronic physical conditions (i.e. a biopsychosocial approach). Therefore, psychosocial intervention has been suggested as a complementary treatment strategy for patients with chronic conditions. The aim of this randomized trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of mind-body multidisciplinary rehabilitation on health-related quality of life, and disease specific endpoints in people with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or heart failure.