Art Therapy Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients

NCT01220960 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 10-049-PSY
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 64
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Keywords

art therapy; breast cancer; women; young women; older women; quality of life; meaning making; support group; art making; art symbols

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• 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 1. Emotional distress as assessed by the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (HADS) (please see below for details) 2. Physical symptoms as assessed by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) 3. 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 Outcomes (1)

• Ability to find and create meaning after the psychosocial impact of a breast cancer diagnosis

  8 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Art Therapy intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

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

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

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.

Interventions

art therapy OTHER

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.

Art Therapy intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

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

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Dr. Sarkis Meterissian: lead
• The Cedars Cancer Institute: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Cedars Breast Centre\ Royal Victoria Hospital

Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1A1, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Breast Neoplasms

Interventions

Art Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Breast Diseases; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sensory Art Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Patient Care; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Katherine L Laux, MA Art Therapy

  Cedars CanSupport

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Virginia Lee, PhD

  McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Sharon Wexler, PhD

  Cedars CanSupport

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Monisha Sudarshan, MD

  McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Sarkis Meterissian, PhD

  MUHC Cedars Breast Centre

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Surgery and Oncology Clinic

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 9, 2010
• First Posted: October 14, 2010
• Study Start: August 1, 2010
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2012
• Study Completion: October 1, 2013
• Last Updated: October 25, 2013

Record last verified: 2013-10

Locations

CA (1)