Cancer Patients, Communication Research
Conditions
Keywords
Adolescents, Young Adults, Writing Intervention, Interview
Brief summary
Young people with cancer have difficult experiences and writing exercises may help improve their well-being. However, very few studies have examined how a creative writing activity might be useful for young people with cancer. In this pilot study, researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital hope to explore whether teenagers and young adults with cancer want to participate in a writing exercise and whether they find it to be valuable. Primary Objective To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a writing-based narrative medicine intervention for adolescent and young adult patients with cancer.
Detailed description
Participants will be given the opportunity to write about their experiences with cancer, with support and guidance from an expert writer. Participants will meet briefly with the expert at the start of the exercise (15-30 minutes), and they can choose to meet 1-3 additional times with the expert over the next 2 months to receive further support if they wish. After completing the writing exercise, participants will do an informal interview to share their thoughts about whether the experience of writing felt helpful or not. The post-intervention interview will occur at around 2 months after enrollment, +/- 1 month. Patients may participate in a second informal semi-structured interview 6 to 12 months after completing the first interview. Additionally, bereaved parents may participate in an informal interview on study.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWriting
Participants will be asked to write about their experiences with cancer, guided by several specific open-ended writing prompts to spark ideas.
BEHAVIORALInterview
Following completion of the writing exercise, participants will reflect on their experiences with the writing intervention in a semi-structured private interview with a member of the research team.
Sponsors
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
15 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Aged 15-25 * Currently receiving cancer-directed therapy * Active patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital * Parent of a ChronCan participant who has passed away
Exclusion criteria
* Does not meet the inclusion criteria * If the parents have not responded or not interviewed till July 31, 2027.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of touchpoints that participants have with the narrative medicine expert/guide | During the narrative exercise, up to 2 months after enrollment | To determine intervention feasibility, the number of touchpoints that participants have with the narrative medicine expert/guide will be tracked |
| Number of participants who complete the writing exercise | During the narrative exercise, up to 2 months after enrollment | To determine intervention feasibility, the number of participants who complete the writing exercise will be tracked |
| Intervention acceptability | Post-intervention interview will occur after the narrative exercise is completed at around 2 months after enrollment, +/- 1 month | Comparison of acceptability between participants who did/did not participate in the optional check-ins. Analysis of de-identified semi-structured interviews will be done. Interviews will be recorded, transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed using content analysis, an inductive approach that includes memo-writing, codebook development, coding, reconciliation, and synthesis to identify emerging patterns and themes. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTErica Kaye, MD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORErica Kaye, MD
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Outcome results
None listed