The impact of making a video cancer narrative in an adolescent male: A case study

The Utility of Verbal Therapy for Pediatric Cancer Patients and Survivors: Expressive Writing, Video Narratives, and Bibliotherapy Exercises

Childhood cancer is a stressful experience. No pediatric patient, however, should be made to feel as if their concerns and feelings about their cancer experience must be bottled up inside. Importantly, talking and writing about one's illness has myriad implications for young cancer patients and survivors. The most salient of these may include increased understanding of one's condition as well as improved physical and cognitive symptoms (e.g., lowered depression, decreased anxiety, and an enhanced quality of life overall). This literature review explores three promising avenues for verbal therapy in the pediatric oncology setting: expressive writing, video narratives, and bibliotherapy exercises. Several recent studies, covering verbal therapy methods from illness blogging to book interventions, are referenced and discussed. Ultimately, we conclude that expressive writing, video narratives, and bibliotherapy exercises are valuable, feasible, inexpensive, and acceptable tools for patients and survivors of childhood cancer to facilitate self-expression-and to find meaning in the uncertainty and anxiety that cancer inherently fosters. We recommend that future studies investigate this theme so that we may improve quality of life and mental health for pediatric cancer patients and survivors worldwide.

To be or not to be in the social media arena? The perspective of healthcare providers working within adolescent and young adult oncology in Switzerland

Background Given that social media is quickly penetrating clinical practice, it is essential to explore how these technologies can be used to improve patient-centered care. This is particularly important for healthcare professionals caring for adolescents and young adults (AYA), amid whom the use of social media is nearly universal and whose medical and psychosocial needs are often underestimated by the pediatric or adult oncology settings in which they are treated. Objectives To examine the perspectives of various medical professionals on the emerging role of social media in AYA oncology. Methods Three focus groups were performed with Swiss healthcare professionals involved in the care of AYA patients with cancer. The focus groups were analyzed using thematic coding. Results Healthcare professionals caring for AYA cancer patients in Switzerland are reluctant to step into the social media sphere because they find it difficult to navigate professional boundaries in an unfamiliar space where different contexts collapse. Nurses and younger healthcare professionals who tend to have a more intimate relationship with AYA, often lack virtual mentorship to know how to maintain online professionalism. Adolescents and young adults cancer-related social media presence was unknown to our participants which resulted in missed occasions to inform, educate and care for this often underserved population of cancer patients. Conclusions More practical guidance is needed to help healthcare professionals with how to integrate social media into clinical practice. Setting up fruitful collaborations between medical institutions and existing AYA support groups online might be the best way forward.

Thematic content of video narratives in patients and survivors of adolescent cancer

OBJECTIVE

Modern day adolescents and young adults (AYAs) connect with their peers via a number of increasingly novel ways, many of which involve social media. These online relationships are often translated offline to increase one's social standing and quality of in-person relationships. However, when an AYA is diagnosed with a chronic medical condition, like cancer, in-person relationships with peers become difficult and the online component of socialization is all that is left. Video testimonials are a way that some AYAs have chosen to reach out to their peers; however, little is known about what AYAs are saying in these videos and how they are using them to connect with peers on a more intimate level.

METHODS

This study examined the content of video testimonials of n = 25 AYA cancer patients and survivors. Transcripts of videos were coded by a team of researchers to identify themes and overall tone.

RESULTS

Results suggested that films focused on struggles AYAs faced during their cancer journeys with a number of themes emerging; additionally, a hopeful tone was seen around the overall impact that cancer had on the patient's life.

CONCLUSIONS

It may be the case that video testimonials are an effective way to allow AYA patients with a cancer history to explore their thoughts about their illness experience and fill an important social gap not available to them as they undergo treatment.

Usability of a Mobile Phone App Aimed at Adolescents and Young Adults During and After Cancer Treatment: Qualitative Study

Background

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients are seldom involved in the process of testing cancer-related apps. As such, knowledge about youth-specific content, functionalities, and design is sparse. As a part of a co-creation process of developing the mobile phone app Kræftværket, AYAs in treatment for cancer and in follow-up participated in a usability think-aloud test of a prototype of the app. Thus, the app was initiated, created, and evaluated by AYAs with cancer experience.

Objective

The aim of this study was to explore the results of a think-aloud test administered to see how the prototype of the app Kræftværket was used by AYAs in treatment for cancer and in follow-up, and to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the app.

Methods

A total of 20 AYA cancer patients aged 16 to 29 years (n=10 on treatment, n=10 in follow-up) were provided with the first version of the co-created mobile phone app Kræftværket during a 6-week test period (April-May 2018). After the test period, 15 participated in individual usability think-aloud tests. The tests were video-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

Results

The thematic analysis led to the following themes and subthemes: navigation (subthemes: intuition, features, buttons, home page, profile), visual and graphic design (subthemes: overview, text and colors, photos, videos, YouTube), and usefulness (subthemes: notifications, posts, adding). The analysis identified gender differences in app utilization—female participants seemed to be more familiar with parts of the app. The app seemed to be more relevant to AYAs receiving treatment due to app functions such as tracking symptoms and searching for relevant information. Lack of notifications and incorrect counting of posts were perceived as barriers to using the app.

Conclusions

Usability testing is crucial to meet the needs of the AYA target audience. AYA cancer apps should preferably be relevant, targeted, and unique, and include a tracking function and AYA-produced videos. Notifications and correct marking and ordering of posts are critical to make apps engaging and dynamic. Further research is recommended to evaluate the Kræftværket app with the input of more AYAs.

Digital Health Interventions for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

This narrative review describes the evidence regarding digital health interventions targeting adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. We reviewed the published literature for studies involving Internet, mHealth, social media, telehealth, and other digital interventions for AYA survivors. We highlight selected studies to illustrate the state of the research in this unique patient population. Interventions have used various digital modalities to improve health behaviors (eg, physical activity, nutrition, tobacco cessation), enhance emotional well-being, track and intervene on cancer-related symptoms, and improve survivorship care delivery. The majority of studies have demonstrated feasibility and acceptability of digital health interventions for AYA survivors, but few efficacy studies have been conducted. Digital health interventions are promising to address unmet psychosocial and health information needs of AYA survivors. Researchers should use rigorous development and evaluation methods to demonstrate the efficacy of these approaches to improve health outcomes for AYA survivors.

Factors Related to Linguistic Content in Video Narrative of Adolescents with Cancer and Healthy Controls

A long history exists of the utilization of narratives to help young people cope with stress and illness. Research is beginning to focus on video based story-telling for the purpose of intervention, however little research has been conducted to look at factors that influence the narrative content of these films. As a pilot, and within the context of a larger study, the current research was conducted with n = 10 adolescents with cancer and n = 10 healthy peers exploring participant characteristics (e.g. personality, quality of life, etc.) and their relationship with linguistic consent of the film. Despite little to no differences identified in demographic characteristics, results identified distinct differences between each group, suggesting that linguistic aspects of film narratives differ in adolescents with and without cancer. This research can serve to motivate future directions of exploration surrounding the content of film narratives and their relationship to patient well-being.