The Problem
Cancer survivors frequently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as a result of their cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Our Solution
The project goal is to conduct a randomized control trial of the Cancer Distress Coach (CDC) app among a national sample of cancer survivors and cancer caregivers. The primary aim is to determine whether CDC usage influences symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and distress. We hypothesized that individuals who are randomized to the treatment arm will have lower PTSD symptom scores than individuals who are randomized to the wait-listed control arm at the end of the four-week intervention period.
We developed an Android and iOS mobile app, Cancer Distress Coach, to help users manage their symptoms of cancer-related PTSD. The app uses guided imagery, meditation exercises, inspirational quotes, music and photos to help patients and their caregivers learn about symptoms and available resources, understand their level of stress, build a network of support and gain coping skills to help manage stress in the moment, in a randomized control trial (RCT) built on ResearchKit and ResearchStack, Apple and Google’s respective frameworks for research on mobile devices.
