Teaching Inner City in Populations in the USA

Beth Robins Roth, APRN, SEP, describes the mindfulness based Stress Reduction Program (SRP) she founded in 1993 at the Community Health Center in Meriden (CHC-Meriden), Connecticut, USA. Ms. Roth teaches the SRP in English and Spanish to adult patients with a variety of medical illnesses and mental health problems. The CHC-Meriden SRP is modeled on the mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Program founded in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Ms. Roth describes how the CHC-Meriden SRP is similar to the original UMASS program, as well as many changes that have been made to better meet the needs of a patient population that is underserved, largely Hispanic and Spanish-speaking, and complicated in terms of medical, mental health, and social problems. There is an emphasis on recognizing the high prevalence of unresolved trauma in this population, and integrating principles and practices from Somatic Experience Trauma Healing to increase the effectiveness of the SRP.