Art Therapy Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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As studies continue to debate the effects of quality of life on survival, increased attention is being focused on investigating complementary alternative therapies to boost overall total health in cancer patients . Art therapy is an interesting growing field, which has shown promise to positively influence quality of life in the pediatric and adult oncology population alike. As there is a paucity of well controlled complete studies in this field, the investigators propose to study the impact of art therapy sessions in women with breast cancer with quantitative and qualitative analysis of emotional health and physical symptoms. The results of the investigators study will have widespread applicability to oncology programs that wish to offer/implement such sessions to their palliative and non-palliative outpatients in an effort to address the important concept of whole person care.

Official Title
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A Mixed Methods Approach to Evaluating How Art Therapy Can Benefit Women Recently Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Conditions
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Breast Cancer

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: art therapy


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Any woman 18-years or older Stage I to III breast cancer (first time diagnosis) Minimum of 6 weeks Post Operative status

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Art Therapy intervention group<br>For participants who will be part of the art therapy intervention, the art therapy group will be a closed group for eight women with breast cancer who are in treatment and recently have had surgery. The group will meet once a week for two hours over a period of 8 weeks, and will focus on exploring the expressive capabilities of art making in a supportive group. This group will be held in the conference room at the Cedars Breast Clinic. Each week will revolve around a theme that pertains to the experience of women living with breast cancer, and will be guided by the women's needs in the group. A broad range of art materials will be made available and various art techniques explored. No art experience is necessary. The intervention group will also need to fill out simple questionnaires before the art therapy groups starts and after the group finishes | Other: art therapy<br>* Art therapy sessions, 2 hours in duration, 1 session/week, 8 continuous weeks of sessions. Each group will be limited to eight women as space is limited.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control Group<br>The group not assigned to the intervention group will be asked to fill out questionnaires at two separate times (before and after the intervention group is run). The Control group will be offered the opportunity to join an open art therapy group upon completing the questionnaires. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Quality of Life (emotional distress, physical symptoms,self-efficacy and well-being) | To investigate whether the implementation of an 8 week art therapy course in post-operative outpatient breast cancer patients can alleviate/improve Emotional distress as assessed by the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (HADS) (please see below for details) Physical symptoms as assessed by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) Meaning making as assessed by The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). | 8 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ability to find and create meaning after the psychosocial impact of a breast cancer diagnosis | To investigate qualitatively how group art therapy can address the psychosocial impacts of breast cancer, including the challenges of finding and creating meaning following a recent diagnosis of breast cancer. | 8 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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art therapy, breast cancer, women, young women, older women, quality of life, meaning making, support group, art making, art symbols