Meditation mobile app developed for cancer patients and survivors: A feasibility study (Preprint)
Year: 2022
Type: preprint
Abstract: BACKGROUND To address the unmet need for a commercial cancer-specific meditation app, we leveraged a long-standing partnership with a consumer-based app (i.e., Calm) to develop the first commercial meditation app prototype adapted specifically for cancer patients’ needs. Input was obtained at both the individual user and clinic level (i.e., cancer patients/survivors and healthcare providers). OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of the cancer-specific meditation app prototype METHODS Cancer patients and survivors who were recruited and enrolled into the feasibility trial were asked to use the prototype daily (≥70 minutes/week) for four weeks. Participants completed online weekly questionnaires, a final post-study questionnaire, and were asked to participate in a virtual post-study interview. Questionnaires and interviews covered the following feasibility categories: acceptability, demand, practicality, and adaptation. RESULTS A total of 36 cancer patients and survivors completed the baseline questionnaire, 18 completed the final questionnaire, and six completed the optional interviews. Weekly and post-study questionnaires indicated high overall enjoyment, ease of use, and satisfaction with the app content, aesthetics, and graphics. Objective usage data indicated that the average total app usage rate was 143.41 minutes/week (SD=180.57). Interviews (N=6) revealed positive and mixed responses to the app prototype and informative differences related to preferences for narrators, emotional content, meditation teaching, and an overall appreciation for the variety of options. CONCLUSIONS The most likely candidate for moving from cancer-specific meditation apps to, eventually, dissemination, are through partnering with industry where a name recognition and market distribution is already established (even showing a base of users from the targeted cancer population).This study established the feasibility of a cancer-specific mobile meditation app prototype among cancer patients and survivors leveraging a commercially available app. Quantitative and qualitative data demonstrated acceptability, demand, practicality, and adaptation of the prototype. Participant’s suggested improvements will be considered in the final app design prior to testing the app for its efficacy in a future study.
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4229064203