Public health expert on benefits of meditation and relaxation in health care usage reduction

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    LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A recent study published in PLOSOne indicates meditation and relaxation training can help reduce health care utilization, and ultimately costs. Mind-body interventions such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce stress and build resiliency.

    University of Louisville School of Public Health & Information Sciences associate professor Scott LaJoie, PhD, a co-author of the paper, says few low cost public health interventions have shown such potential in reducing health care utilization. (LaJoie was quoted in this Huffington Post article: Yoga And Meditation Shown To Drastically Reduce Hospital Visits )

    UofL offers faculty, staff and students mind-body wellness opportunities including yoga classes and mindfulness training. This year the Health Promotion Office started 4-week workshops for students called Koru Mindfulness & Meditation. The workshop is based on evidence-informed curriculum that was developed at Duke University specifically for “emerging adults” (students 18-29 years old) to address the anxiety and stress that interferes with academic success, health status and quality of life, giving them access to a powerful method for improving wellbeing.

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    Julie Heflin
    Julie oversees digital content for the Office of Communications and Marketing. She began her UofL career on the Health Sciences Center campus in 2007. Prior to this, Julie was a journalist with WFPL (Louisville Public Media), and occasionally filed reports for National Public Radio.