Writing Intervention With Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer

Cancer Patients Clinical Trial

Official title:

ChronCan (Chronicling Cancer): Piloting a Novel Writing Intervention With Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05975333
• Other study ID #: ChronCan
• Secondary ID: NCI-2023-06074
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 2, 2023
• Est. completion date: August 2024

Study information

• Verified date: April 2024
• Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Contact: Trisha K. Paul, MD
• Phone: 866-278-5833
• Email: referralinfo[@]stjude.org
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 20
• Est. completion date: August 2024
• Est. primary completion date: August 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 15 Years to 25 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 15-25

• Currently receiving cancer-directed therapy

• Active patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

• Does not meet the inclusion criteria

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cancer Patients
• Communication Research

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Writing
Participants will be asked to write about their experiences with cancer, guided by several specific open-ended writing prompts to spark ideas.
• Interview
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.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	St. Jude Children's Research Hospital	Memphis	Tennessee

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Number of touchpoints that participants have with the narrative medicine expert/guide	To determine intervention feasibility, the number of touchpoints that participants have with the narrative medicine expert/guide will be tracked	During the narrative exercise, up to 2 months after enrollment
Primary	Number of participants who complete the writing exercise	To determine intervention feasibility, the number of participants who complete the writing exercise will be tracked	During the narrative exercise, up to 2 months after enrollment
Primary	Intervention acceptability	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.	Post-intervention interview will occur after the narrative exercise is completed at around 2 months after enrollment, +/- 1 month

External Links

•   Clinical Trials Open at St. Jude
•   St. Jude Children's Research Hospital