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Having cancer can be a rough road to travel. It can be tiring, painful, expensive, and quite long. Imagine adding to that constant stops to hospitals plus not always having a clear destination. It is not surprise that one in three persons who have (had) cancer live with distressing emotions and experience lower quality of life and well-being. Although psycho-oncological treatments are available and can provide support in coping with the consequences of cancer, they can be expensive, difficult to access, and often require travelling time.
In the research project Buddy, led by Anne Speckens from the Center for Mindfulness from the Department of Psychiatry, an online mindfulness based cognitive therapy (eMBCT) intervention was developed to support people with cancer in finding their way with having this disease.
In collaboration with experts in cancer, mindfulness, online interventions, cancer organizations, and people with cancer, two versions of eMBCT were created: one blended, which includes peer and teacher support, and one unguided, with the advantage that it can be widely implemented. Buddy was developed considering the barriers people with cancer have to face. It aims to be a flexible, attractive, and cost-effective eMBCT program with the objective of reducing psychological distress and increase quality of life in this population.
The protocol paper for the randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of both formats of eMBCT was recently published in BMC psychology. It describes the three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial that evaluates the (cost) effectiveness of blended and unguided eMBCT among cancer patients and survivors. Results from this study could lead to implementation of an effective, easily accessible, sustainable, and relatively low-cost eMBCT program to people with cancer.
Picture: from left to right Dr. Linda Kwakkenbos, PhD candidate Nasim Badaghi, Professor Anne Speckens, and research assistant Nynke Rijpkema.
Publication
Badaghi, N., van Kruijsbergen, M., Prins, J., Kelders, S., Cillessen, L., Compen, F., Donders, R., Kwakkenbos, L., & Speckens, A. (2023). Effect of blended and unguided online delivery of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus care as usual on distress among cancer patients and survivors: protocol for the three-arm parallel randomized controlled buddy trial. BMC psychology, 11(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01052-2
