Experience of compassion-based practice in individuals with persistent pain

Section A: conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies that focus on the experience of mindfulness-based and compassion-based group interventions for people with
persistent pain conditions. Clinical and research implications are discussed, considering gaps
and limitations in the existing evidence base. This informs areas that will benefit further research, such as the experience of compassion-based practices in standardised MBIs for persistent pain populations.

Section B: presents a study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the experience of participants with persistent pain engaging with compassion-based practices in a Mindfulness for Health programme. Eight participants from four groups participated with semi-structured interviews following the programme. Participants described perceived positive changes and difficult experiences during the compassion-based session, and they related these to their present and past experience of compassion. Implications for facilitating Mindfulness-based interventions, clinical practice and further research are
discussed.