Does Effectual Meditation or Daily Prayer Lead to Improved Mental Health in Adulthood?

With the incorporation of the Affordable Care Act, numerous Americans will receive much-needed healthcare.  However, mental health continues to have noted gaps in the healthcare system. According to Healthy People 2020 (2014), the baseline measure for adults who self-report good or better mental health is 79.1%. In an effort to improve the mental health of Americans, Healthy People has set a target objective to increase from 79.1% to 80.1%.

In order to explore this concept, the authors wanted to explore the impact of daily prayer/mediation on mental health. According to the New Strong’s Concordance (1990), “effectual is defined as being active, efficient, show forth one's self, wrought, be effectual, effectually work, fervent, be mighty in, in work, energetic, and or powerful” (p. 88).  Koenig and Larson suggest that religiousness and spirituality foster positive psychological characteristics, such as optimism, hope, meaning, purpose and motivation. Together these characteristics promote a worldview that reduces stress and enhances well-being (as cited in Aten, O’Grady, & Worthington, 2012). This study examined the impact of 10-30 minutes of effectual meditation or daily prayer on the participants’ mental health after 30 and 60 days. A randomized sample population will be taken from 122 willing participants, from a school of Nursing, churches, mosques and temples. A Likert-type scale will be used to measure participant’s perceptions. Each participant will be asked to rate each item on a response scale, 1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree. Demographic information such as: age, current judgment and level of mental health, happy, depressed, and or sad, medical diagnosis, if they are active in prayer or meditation, if so how many minutes per day, would be basic information needed from participants.

After 30-60 days of implementation of 10-30 minutes of effectual meditation or daily prayer, the same questionnaire would be given. Results would be recorded. The results will indicate whether or not 10-30 minutes of effectual meditation or daily prayer will increase the percentage of adults that report improved and or good mental health.