Empathy and (Self-)Compassion in Parkinson's Disease Patients and Caregivers

Empathy and (Self-)Compassion to Improve the Quality of Life of Parkinson's Disease Patients and Caregivers: an Exploratory Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to improve quality of life in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients by increasing their empathy and their (self-)compassion. The main question it aims to answer is:

Does the level of quality of life in PD patients and caregivers improve after empathy/(self-)compassion training?

Participants will be delivered a 6-week empathy and compassion training (mindfulness, writing and poetry exercises addressing the cognitive, emotional, motivational and behavioural components of (self-)compassion) and will also be asked to answer questionnaires before and after the training

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of PD
• Hoehn and Yahr scale, stage ≤ 3
• Mini Mental State Examination with a score ≥ 26
• Able to give informed consent as documented by signature
• At least, secondary school education
• To have a regular caregiver at home

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any medical condition that is not PD, such as drug induced parkinsonism
• Major depression, dysthymia, or according to DSM-V
• Other neurological or psychiatric diseases
• Neuropsychological scores compatible with the diagnosis of early dementia
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, etc

For CAREGIVERS:

Inclusion criteria

• Taking care of the patient on a regular basis, i.e., at least 3 days per week
• Being caregiver of the patients for at least 3 months
• At least, secondary school education
• Written informed consent