Group Curriculum for Improving Survivorship Outcomes in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Social workers will develop a curriculum to facilitate psychoeducational, skill-based, and process-oriented group for patients who have entered survivorship.

II. To determine if a specific 6 weeklong psychoeducational, skill-based, and process-oriented peer group curriculum results in improved quality of life for adolescents and young adult cancer survivors.

III. To demonstrate the feasibility of this curriculum to address the needs of this population.

OUTLINE:

Participants attend an online group facilitated by two oncology social workers and receive information regarding coping with cancer survivorship as a young adult, as well as discuss survivorship issues/concerns with peers.

• Counseling (Other), also known as Counseling Intervention: Attend online group facilitated by two oncology social workers
• Discussion (Procedure), also known as Discuss: Discuss survivorship issues/concerns
• Informational Intervention (Other): Receive young adult cancer survivorship information
• Medical Chart Review (Other), also known as Chart Review: Ancillary studies
• Quality-of-Life Assessment (Other), also known as Quality of Life Assessment: Ancillary studies
• Questionnaire Administration (Other): Ancillary studies

Primary outcomes

• Change in quality of life [Baseline and 6 weeks]: Will be measured using the Quality of Life Patient/Cancer Survivor Version (QOL-CSV). The QOL-CSV is based on pre-existing versions of the City of Hope's QOL instrument. A pilot study conducted by Hassey-Dow and Farrell provided data which resulted in the revision of the QOL into 41 items that represent four domains of quality of life as pertaining to cancer survivorship: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. Only the psychological well-being, social concerns, and spiritual well-being components will be used. A two-sided paired t-test for the difference in the mean response will be conducted. A significance level of 0.05 will be used. If the data violate normality assumptions, a non-parametric alternative will be used. Additional summary statistics such as the proportion of participants who reported an improvement in QOL-CSV score may be used as appropriate.

Secondary outcomes

• Change in well-being [Baseline and 6 weeks]: Will be measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale (WEMWBS). 14 responses may be aggregated to provide a single score. The WEMWBS scale is a validated measurement of group mental well-being, which examines participants' hedonic and eudaemonic perspectives. A two-sided paired t-test for the difference in the mean response will be conducted. A significance level of 0.05 will be used. If the data violate normality assumptions, a non-parametric alternative will be used.

Sex: All, ages: 18 Years to 39 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 18-39
* Is a patient of Mayo Clinic Arizona for oncologic care and/or follow-up
* History of cancer diagnosis
* Treated with curative intent
* Completed cancer treatment within 6 months to 2 years prior to group attendance
* Ability to read/write/speak English
* Ability to participate in a group setting
* Ability to commit to attending all six group meetings

Exclusion Criteria:

* Inability to read/write/speak English
* No internet or computer access
* Not receiving care at Mayo Clinic Arizona
* Currently receiving treatment for cancer
* Is unable to sit comfortably for 90 minutes
* Was not treated with curative intent
* Is on hospice care
* Co-morbid systemic illness or other severe concurrent disease which, in the judgment of the investigator, would make the patient inappropriate for entry into this study or interfere significantly with the proper assessments

• Melody A Griffith, MSW, LISW, Principal investigator, Mayo Clinic