Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy for Cancer Patients

The purpose of this study is to determine whether cancer patients who receive the mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) program demonstrate improvement in health-related quality of life, a reduction in stress-related symptoms, and enhanced coping responses.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Psychosocial interventions, especially supportive-expressive group therapies, have been associated with significant improvements in health status, quality of life and coping behaviors, in patients with cancer. The purpose of the proposed pilot research study is to investigate a newly developed group therapy for cancer patients, MBAT. This proposed, randomized, controlled study follows a successful preliminary investigation of MBAT conducted at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. MBAT integrates known benefits of art therapy, group therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Each of these fundamentally different modalities has documented usefulness in the treatment of cancer patients. The multi-modal approach is designed to enhance both the supportive and expressive aspects of the group experience. The study will be done with 96 patients who have a variety of cancer types. Participants will be matched for age and assigned randomly to either the MBAT experimental group or a non-intervention control group. Both groups will continue to receive their usual oncologic/medical care. The MBAT program consists of eight weekly meetings of two and one half-hours in length. At the end of the eight weeks, participants in the control group will be crossed over to the experimental intervention arm for an additional eight weeks. Participants will be assessed pre- and post-intervention on measures of health-related quality of life, psychological distress, and coping, using standardized outcome instruments (SF-36, SCL-90-R and COPE). Our long-term goal is to collect sufficient data to determine the overall efficacy of this promising intervention and to identify which patients are particularly likely to benefit from MBAT.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

114

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
        • Thomas Jefferson University Hospital/Kimmel Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion:

  • Diagnosis of cancer or cancer recurrence within the past 2 years.
  • Able to tolerate 8 weekly groups, 2 1/2 hours in length

Exclusion:

  • Less than 4 months from original or recurrent diagnosis or beyond 2 years
  • Physically unable to attend groups
  • Non-stabilized major mental disorder
  • Children
  • Comprehension of written and spoken English at a level of less than 4th grade.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: ECT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: FACTORIAL
  • Masking: NONE

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniel A. Monti, MD, Thomas Jefferson University
  • Study Director: Caroline Peterson, MA, Thomas Jefferson University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2002

Study Completion

December 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 2, 2002

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2002

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 3, 2002

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

August 18, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 17, 2006

Last Verified

July 1, 2006

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Cancer

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