Leveraging an academic-industry partnership to develop a cancer-specific mobile meditation app

1项目摘要/摘要 2大约1550万美国癌症患者/幸存者经历了一系列残留症状(例如， 3疲劳、焦虑、抑郁、疼痛、睡眠障碍)和生活质量下降，这些往往得不到解决 4甚至是目前最好的护理治疗标准。残留症状负担损害癌症幸存者 5功能正常，并导致伤残率和医疗保健利用率增加，每年造成1250亿美元的损失。 6癌症患者/幸存者希望并需要补充策略来配合标准治疗。 研究表明，冥想等以正念为基础的疗法对 8减轻癌症相关症状(如疲劳、焦虑、抑郁和睡眠障碍)。 9计划通常是在诊所环境中面对面进行的；然而，这些计划昂贵且 10难以维持，癌症患者报告参与的障碍(例如，旅行需求、疲劳、疼痛和 11日程安排困难)。基于智能手机的冥想是一种可行且新颖的冥想方式 12个给癌症患者/幸存者。移动应用程序和在线冥想程序已经显示出短期的好处 13对于癌症患者/幸存者；然而，目前可用的商业冥想应用程序在其 14对癌症患者/幸存者的独特体验的参与度、可接受性和适用性 15评估其可行性或有效性。还有一种尚未得到满足的需求，即商业上可获得的、基于证据的 16专为癌症患者/幸存者设计的冥想应用程序。结合利益相关者反馈(即， 17名患者和医疗保健提供者)在早期设计阶段将促进冥想应用程序的开发 18真正面向可商业化的最终用户，从而提高接受度和影响力 患者中有19例。Calm，一款广受欢迎的基于消费者的冥想应用，下载量为7000万次，下载量为200万次 20个订户，提供了一个开发可访问的针对癌症的独立冥想应用程序的平台。 21此项目将：1)从一个咨询委员会(N=20)收集关于当前CAMLAM应用程序的反馈，该委员会包括 22的癌症患者/幸存者(n=10，各5人)和医疗保健提供者(n=10)，2)设计针对癌症的 23个冥想应用原型，以及3)在癌症患者/幸存者(N=30)中对原型进行贝塔测试。 24为癌症患者/幸存者设计并测试的独立冥想应用程序，利用一个流行的 25和经过验证的冥想应用程序平台，将投入商业使用，具有创新性，可以提供 26个可扩展、高度吸引人的症状管理工具，可满足癌症患者/幸存者的独特需求。 27如果我们的关键可行性里程碑得到满足，我们将进一步完善针对癌症的APP，并进行随机 28项对照试验，以确定APP在减轻癌症患者/幸存者症状负担方面的长期疗效 29(第二阶段)，以后可以商业化并向癌症患者/幸存者、医疗保健提供者和 30家诊所。(第三阶段)。

1 Project Summary/Abstract 2 Approximately 15.5 million US cancer patients/survivors experience a host of residual symptoms (e.g., 3 fatigue, anxiety, depression, pain, sleep disturbance) and reduced quality of life that are often not resolved with 4 even the best-available current standard of care therapies. Residual symptom burden impairs cancer survivor 5 functioning and leads to increased rates of disability and healthcare utilization, costing $125 billion every year. 6 Cancer patients/survivors want and need complementary strategies to accompany standard therapies. 7 Research has demonstrated the benefits of mindfulness-based therapies, such as meditation, for 8 alleviating cancer-related symptoms (e.g., fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance).Meditation-based 9 programs are typically conducted in-person, in clinic settings; however, these programs are expensive and 10 difficult to sustain, and cancer patients report barriers to participating (e.g., travel demands, fatigue, pain, and 11 scheduling difficulties). Smartphone-based meditation is a feasible and novel method for delivering meditation 12 to cancer patients/survivors. Mobile apps and online meditation programs have demonstrated short-term benefits 13 for cancer patients/survivors; however, the currently available commercial meditation apps are limited in their 14 engagement, acceptability, and applicability to cancer patients/survivors’ unique experiences and have not been 15 evaluated for feasibility or efficacy. There is an unmet need for a commercially-available, evidence-based 16 meditation app specifically designed for cancer patients/survivors. Incorporating stakeholder feedback (i.e., 17 patients and healthcare providers) in the early design phase will facilitate the development of a meditation app 18 truly targeted for the end users that can be made commercially available, thereby improving uptake and impact 19 in patient populations. Calm, a popular consumer-based meditation app with 70 million downloads and 2 million 20 subscribers, provides a platform from which to develop an accessible standalone cancer-specific meditation app. 21 This project will: 1) gather feedback about the current Calm app from an advisory committee (N=20) consisting 22 of cancer patients/survivors (n=10, 5 of each) and healthcare providers (n=10), 2) design a cancer-specific 23 meditation app prototype, and 3) beta-test the prototype in cancer patients/survivors (N=30). 24 A standalone meditation app designed for and tested by cancer patients/survivors, leveraging a popular 25 and validated meditation app platform, to be made commercially available, is innovative and could provide a 26 scalable, highly engaging symptom-management tool that addresses cancer patients/survivors’ unique needs. 27 If our key feasibility milestones are met, we will further refine the cancer-specific app and conduct a randomized 28 controlled trial to determine the app’s long-term efficacy in reducing symptom burden in cancer patients/survivors 29 (Phase 2) that can later be commercialized and marketed to cancer patients/survivors, healthcare providers, and 30 clinics. (Phase 3).