Teens Taking Charge: Managing Cancer Online
Condition: Cancer
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Cancer is the most common potentially fatal disease of adolescence and the Internet
      represents an ideal means to deliver education, self-monitoring capabilities, and social
      support to enhance disease self-management by adolescents with cancer. While two interactive
      coping websites exist for young people with cancer, they are: (1) not interactive, (2) do not
      focus on helping youth gain skills for transition and independence, and (3) do not provide
      opportunities for meaningful social support. In summary, there is a crucial need to develop a
      comprehensive interactive Internet-based self-management program targeting AWC that is
      comprised of cancer education, self-management skills, and opportunities for social support,
      and that is cost-effective.
    

Detailed description: 
      Overall aim of this program of research is to develop and evaluate the "Teens Taking Charge:
      Managing Cancer Online" Internet intervention that will help AWC to better cope with their
      disease, improve their HRQL, and enhance readiness to transition to adult health care using a
      sequential phased approach. The first phase of this project has determined the
      self-management and transitional care needs of adolescents with cancer. The second phase
      consisted of website development and usability testing to ensure the website is easy to use
      and understand, and is efficient and satisfying to complete. Subsequently, we will assess the
      feasibility of the program and the outcomes from the use of the site in a randomized
      controlled trial (RCT) pilot study (Phase 3). This will inform the design and methods of the
      main trial, and will permit us to obtain estimates of treatment effects on AWC health
      outcomes to inform the calculation of an appropriate sample size for the future definitive
      RCT (Phase 4). The focus of this study is Phase 3. Phase 4 will be a multicentre randomized
      controlled trial to assess outcomes for teens that complete the intervention as compared to
      those of an attention control group.
    

Intervention name(s): Taking Charge: Managing Cancer Online; Standard Medical Care and Cancer Resource Center
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): n addition to standard medical care, adolescents in the experimental group will receive the "Taking Charge: Managing Cancer Online" Internet self-management program. The intervention is a 12-module interactive multi-component treatment protocol that consists of Cancer-specific education, self-management strategies, and social support that is available in English and French.; The control group is designed to control for the potential effects on outcomes of time, attention and computer use during the intervention. In addition to standard medical care, adolescents in the attention control group will be provided with access to a self-guided patient education study website, which will have two components: basic patient educational materials about Cancer ("Cancer Resource Centre") and online assessments.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Adolescent; Internet Self-Management; Managing Cancer