Childhood Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
Healthy survivorship, Smartphones, Treatment
Brief summary
This study is focused on the development and pilot/feasibility testing of a smartphone application to promote a healthy diet, increase physical activity, and prevent weight gain in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer.
Detailed description
While successful advancements in treatment for childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) have resulted in a growing cohort of survivors, these survivors are at risk for a number of long-term health problems. This study proposes to develop and conduct feasibility testing for a smartphone application that would deliver a health behavior intervention to this population. A formative phase focused on intervention and software development will be followed by a pilot/feasibility test of the intervention. Participants in the intervention will receive a customized study-designed mobile phone app with a social networking component in which users will be able to support one another. They will also receive personal support from a health counselor to help set goals and discuss areas of concern.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMila Blooms
Behavioral intervention will be administered to 30 adolescent childhood cancer survivors & their parents (3 blocks of 10 survivor-parent(s) groups) who serve as their own controls. The intervention phase begins at Week 9 (immediately following the 8-week control phase) and runs for 9 weeks (Weeks 9 - 17). Adolescents are assigned a smartphone installed with the Mila Blooms app to use for the first 8 weeks (Weeks 9 - 16) of the intervention. The app integrates (1) tools for tracking health behaviors (e.g., diet, physical activity, etc.); (2) an avatar system to provide virtual rewards, and (3) a social network of users for support. As part of the intervention, adolescents will also receive weekly coaching phone calls from study staff to discuss areas of concern and to encourage goal-setting & participation. During the 9th week (Week 17), participants complete one final survey & accelerometer wear.
Sponsors
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Duke University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 19 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Participants must speak & read/write fluent English; * Adolescent must be between 12 and 19 years of age; * Adolescent must have a previous diagnosis of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; * Adolescent must be off-therapy (i.e., not in active or maintenance phase of cancer therapy) for at least 2 years; * Adolescent must be cleared by his/her physician to participate (defined by obtaining a score of 80 or greater on the Karnofsky Scale as determined by their physician); * Participants must have a working phone number; * Adolescents must live at home with parents in order to facilitate parent involvement via support materials.
Exclusion criteria
* Physician reports that the patient has deficits in neurocognitive functioning that would preclude him/her from participating in a cognitive-oriented intervention;
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility of the Mila Blooms Intervention at changing health behaviors. | ~9 weeks (from pre-intervention baseline to post-intervention follow-up) | Test the feasibility of the Mila Blooms intervention at changing diet, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and social cognitive mediators of health behavior change. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed