Your example isn't quite right, but yes, it refers to time.
Both in Japanese and in English, 'while' is used as a conjunction (meaning there is one sentence with a subordinate clause) and 'meanwhile' is used as an adverb (used to connect two separate sentences, sometimes via semicolon).
Both mean that an action occurs during another, with 'meanwhile' often implying it happens elsewhere e.g.:
食べながら、飲んでいた。 = While I was eating, I was drinking.
裁判所は審議中だ。 この間、私達は辛抱しなければならない。 = The court is deliberating. Meanwhile, we must be patient.
