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RecruitingNCT07669805Updated Oct 2, 2026

Social Prescribing for a Mindful Lifestyle

An interventional study of Mindfulness Lifestyle Social Prescribing Program in Depression and/or Anxiety in the Mild-to-moderate Range, Loneliness and Social Isolation, sponsored by Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 55 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-02.

Sponsored by Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jul 2026; still recruiting 4 months later.
Updated Oct 2, 2026Now RecruitingSite recruiting status changed+1 moreGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
55 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program in community-dwelling older adults aged 55 and older. The main questions it aims to answer are:

To establish a mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing model applied to the psychological and social health promotion of middle-aged and older populations.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on improving depressive symptoms, loneliness, and quality of life in this population.

Participants will receive an 8-week group intervention program, with each weekly session lasting approximately 3 hours. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). Researchers will collect and evaluate data from pre- and post-intervention assessments to measure changes in depressive symptoms, loneliness risk, and overall quality of life.

Read the detailed description

This clinical trial implements an 8-week mindfulness lifestyle social prescribing program designed to enhance the psychological and social well-being of community-dwelling older adults. The intervention integrates mindfulness practices with healthy lifestyle modifications to address sub-healthy states, such as depressive symptoms and social isolation, which traditional clinical models often fail to fully resolve.

The structured 8-week group curriculum meets weekly for 3 hours per session. The program systematically incorporates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (including herbal therapy and leaf printing).

The program is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of geriatricians, geriatric case managers, nutritionists, exercise instructors, and trained volunteers to ensure comprehensive support.

Research procedures involve a pre- and post-intervention assessment design. Participants will undergo standardized evaluations before the commencement of the first session (Week 1) and upon the completion of the program (Week 8). These assessments will objectively measure changes in depressive symptoms, the risk of loneliness, and overall quality of life to determine the effect of this social prescribing model.

02

Conditions studied

  • Depression and/or Anxiety in the Mild-to-moderate Range
  • Loneliness
  • Social Isolation

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • Mindfulness
  • Older Adults
  • Lifestyle Medicine
  • Quality of Life
  • Social Prescribing
03

In context

Social Isolation

236 studies on the registry are indexed under Social Isolation; 61 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 80 across 198 interventional studies indexed under Social Isolation.

Browse Social Isolation studies →

Lead sponsor

Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 88 studies on the registry; 20 are open to participants now.

Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
55 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • People aged 55 years or older.
  • People with a Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score of 7-10 or a UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 score of 35-64.
  • People can understand the research process, meet the requirements of the research, and can sign the and participate in the project.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • People that are unable to cooperate with the project or follow-up.
  • According to the PI's judgment, people with severe or poorly controlled conditions include ongoing acute diseases, severe infections, severe abnormal laboratory tests, or serious medical conditions with the following systems: cardiovascular, pulmonary, hepatic, nervous, mental, metabolic, renal, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, etc.
  • People with severe depression, risk of self-harm, severe cognitive impairment (dementia), visual or hearing impairment, and disabilities that prevent the completion of the project and assessment.
  • People are currently or expected to join any other physical training courses or nutrition intervention plans during the project period.
  • Others are based on the judgment of the PI that participating in this project may adversely affect the safety of the subjects, hinder the progress of the experiment, or interfere with the evaluation of the outcomes of the project.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental Arm

    Behavioral: Mindfulness Lifestyle Social Prescribing Program

Interventions

  • BehavioralMindfulness Lifestyle Social Prescribing Program

    An 8-week, once-weekly, 3-hour group program designed for middle-aged and older adults. The structured curriculum integrates mindfulness awareness, body scanning, mindfulness stretching, breathing training, healthy dietary education, and art practices (such as herbal therapy and leaf printing). It is delivered by a multidisciplinary team including geriatricians, case managers, dietitians, exercise instructors, and volunteers.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Changes in Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) score

    The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) is a 15-item questionnaire used to assess depression symptoms in older adults. Scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms.

    Time frame: Baseline and Week 8

  2. Changes in UCLA Loneliness Scale score

    The UCLA Loneliness Scale measures an individual's subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater loneliness.

    Time frame: Baseline and Week 8

  3. Changes in WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire score

    The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Taiwan version is a 28-item questionnaire used to assess the physical, psychological, social relationships, and environment domains of quality of life. Scores for each domain are transformed to a scale of 4 to 20, with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Changes in scores were evaluated between baseline and week 8.

    Time frame: Baseline and Week 8

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015 Mar;10(2):227-37. doi: 10.1177/1745691614568352. PubMed 25910392 ↗
  • Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLoS Med. 2010 Jul 27;7(7):e1000316. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316. PubMed 20668659 ↗
  • Paquet C, Whitehead J, Shah R, Adams AM, Dooley D, Spreng RN, Aunio AL, Dube L. Social Prescription Interventions Addressing Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Meta-Review Integrating On-the-Ground Resources. J Med Internet Res. 2023 May 17;25:e40213. doi: 10.2196/40213. PubMed 37195738 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Status
Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
changed Oct 2, 2026
Sites
Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital is now Recruiting
Oct 2, 2026
Start date
Jul 1, 2026→Jul 9, 2026 (actual)
Oct 2, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 2, 2026
    Not yet recruiting→Recruiting
    Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital is now Recruiting
    Start date Jul 1, 2026→Jul 9, 2026 (now actual)
    + 1 other change: verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07669805
Lead sponsor
Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 25, 2026
Start date
Jul 9, 2026
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 2, 2026

Study contacts

Sheng-Lun Kao, MD. PhD.
Contact
stevenkao7434@gmail.com
+886-3-8561825 ext. 15599
Sheng-Lun Kao, MD. PhD.
principal investigator · Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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