Breast Cancer Survivor
Conditions
Keywords
Interventions, Meaning-Centered Group (MCG), Discussion Group (DG), Modules, Sessions, 12-291
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to compare two types of groups for breast cancer survivors: a Meaning-Centered Group and a Discussion Group. Many breast cancer survivors seek help to deal with the emotional burden of having gone through the cancer experience. Participation in groups offering support often helps cancer survivors cope with stressors of life after having had cancer by giving them a place to express their feelings. The "Meaning-Centered Group" is intended to teach breast cancer survivors how to maintain or even increase a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives after treatment for cancer. The "Discussion Group" is intended to help breast cancer survivors cope by giving them a place to get support from other breast cancer survivors. The goal of this study is to compare the benefits of these two types of group approaches for breast cancer survivors. The study is also testing the benefits and feasibility of conducting the groups virtually using a telephone and computer.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALmanualized group intervention
MCG-BCS manual outlines 8 approximately, 90-minute modules: 1) Concepts \& Sources of Meaning; 2) Identity, Cancer Survivorship, \& Meaning; 3) Historical Sources of Meaning: Past Legacy; 4) Historical Sources of Meaning: Present \& Future Legacy; 5) Attitudinal Sources of Meaning: Encountering Life's Limitations; 6) Creative Sources of Meaning: Creativity \& Responsibility; 7) Experiential Sources of Meaning: Connecting with Life via Love, Beauty, \& Humor; and 8) Transitions: Reflections \& Hopes for the Future.
BEHAVIORALstandardized, manualized group intervention
DG is a standardized, manualized group developed by the MSKCC Psychiatry Service and utilized in a similar form in our completed and ongoing RCTs of MCGP. Based on models described by Rogers and Bloch, the essential components include reassurance, explanation, education, encouragement, and permission for expression. The process emphasizes Rogerian concepts (e.g., empathic understanding) and avoids techniques that are not exclusively supportive. The content focuses on education about here-and-now topics relevant to BCS (e.g., maintaining and eliciting social support, financial strains, return to work, physical symptom management), allowing emotional expression and discussion of difficult topics.
Sponsors
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
American Cancer Society, Inc.
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* History of non-metastatic breast cancer (DCIS or Stage I, II, or III) as recorded in the medical record at MSKCC by self-report, or by outside correspondence, including a study checklist signed by a physician for patients outside of MSKCC * Post completion of treatment (may be on hormone therapy, such as Tamoxifen or monoclonal antibody, such as Herceptin or Pertuzumab)) for any type of cancer as confirmed by the medical record at MSKCC, by self-report, or by outside correspondence, including a study checklist signed by a physician for patients outside of MSKCC * Age 18 or older * Access to a telephone, computer (e.g. desktop, laptop, smartphone, tablet) and Internet For Phase 2 only: * A score of ≥ to 4 on the Distress Thermometer (DT) and indication that this distress is related in some way to the patient's breast cancer or survivorship * If taking medication for mood, anxiety, depression, thoughts, sensory experiences such as hallucinations, or sleep, stable and consistent enough in dosage and use of that medication so as to not result in a clinically significant change as determined by the study PI/co-PI or, confirmed by reports in the medical record at MSKCC, by selfreport, or by outside correspondence, including a study checklist signed by a physician for patients outside of MSKCC * Did not participate in Phase 1
Exclusion criteria
* Evidence of or treatment metastatic disease * Significant psychiatric or cognitive disturbance sufficient, in the investigator's judgment, to preclude providing informed consent or participating in the groups (i.e., acute psychiatric symptoms which require individual treatment).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| feasibility as measured by the proportion of patients enrolled who complete 4 out of 8 modules, which should not be not lower than 40%. | 2 years |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMonique James, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Outcome results
None listed