Research Article Mindfulness for Motor and Nonmotor Dysfunctions in Parkinson’s Disease Nadeeka N. W. Dissanayaka, 1,2,3 Farah Idu Jion, 1,2 Nancy A. Pachana, 2 John D. O’Sullivan, 3,4 Rodney Marsh, 1,5 Gerard J. Byrne, 1,4,5 and Paul Harnett 2 1 UQ Centre for Clinical Research, e University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia 2 School of Psychology, e University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia 3 Neurology Research Centre, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia 4 School of Medicine, e University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia 5 Mental Health Service, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4029, Australia Correspondence should be addressed to Nadeeka N. W. Dissanayaka; n.dissanayaka@uq.edu.au Received 18 November 2015; Revised 5 March 2016; Accepted 28 March 2016 Academic Editor: Ivan Bodis-Wollner Copyright © 2016 Nadeeka N. W. Dissanayaka et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Motor and nonmotor symptoms negatively influence Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients’ quality of life. Mindfulness interventions have been a recent focus in PD. e present study explores effectiveness of a manualized group mindfulness intervention tailored for PD in improving both motor and neuropsychiatric deficits in PD. Methods. Fourteen PD patients completed an 8-week mindfulness intervention that included 6 sessions. e Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, PD Cognitive Rating Scale, Unified PD Rating Scale, PD Quality of Life Questionnaire, and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) were administered before and aſter the intervention. Participants also completed the FFMQ-15 at each session. Gains at postassessment and at 6-month follow-up were compared to baseline using paired -tests and Wilcoxon nonparametric tests. Results. A significant increase in FFMQ-Observe subscale, a reduction in anxiety, depression, and OQ-45 symptom distress, an increase in PDCRS-Subcortical scores, and an improvement in postural instability, gait, and rigidity motor symptoms were observed at postassessment. Gains for the PDCRS were sustained at follow-up. Conclusion. e mindfulness intervention tailored for PD is associated with reduced anxiety and depression and improved cognitive and motor functioning. A randomised controlled trial using a large sample of PD patients is warranted. 1. Introduction Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive, incurable, complex, and disabling age-related disease. Classically, PD is characterised by abnormalities in movement; however, non- motor symptoms including depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline are frequently experienced in PD [1–3]. Both motor and nonmotor symptoms negatively impact PD patients’ quality of life. Over 50% of PD patients experience anxiety and depressive disorders [4]. e majority of PD patients develop mild cognitive impairment that may progress to dementia at advanced PD. e prevalence of dementia in advanced stage PD exceeds 80% [5]. At present, there are no effective therapies to treat anxiety or cognitive deficits in PD; very few randomised controlled psychotherapy trials for depression in PD have been attempted [6–8]. While Cognitive Behaviour erapy (CBT) has been a popular psychotherapy method trialled in PD [6], there has been relatively little attention directed to mindfulness interven- tions in PD [9]. e present study explores the benefits of a manualized and tailored mindfulness group intervention to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in PD. e study also investigates the impact of the intervention on cognitive and motor symptoms in PD. “Mindfulness” refers to the process of bringing awareness to moment-by-moment experience in a compassionate and nonjudgmental manner [10]. It can be further defined as a process of self-regulation of attention through increased Hindawi Publishing Corporation Parkinson’s Disease Volume 2016, Article ID 7109052, 13 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7109052