Mobile Chatbot Support for Cancer Survivor Care
Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May be covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Academic
Recruiting
Sponsor: Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine
No Placebo Group
Trial Summary
What is the purpose of this trial?This trial tests a chatbot called 'Penny' to help cancer survivors who haven't had follow-up care in a long time. 'Penny' sends text reminders to schedule and attend medical appointments, aiming to reengage these patients with the healthcare system.
Do I need to stop my current medications to join the trial?
The trial protocol does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.
What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Penny, Penny Chatbot, Mobile Chatbot Support for cancer survivor care?
Research on similar eHealth interventions, like the My Guide app for Hispanic breast cancer survivors, suggests that smartphone applications can improve quality of life and reduce cancer-specific distress by providing psychoeducation and self-management support.
12345Is the Mobile Chatbot Support for Cancer Survivor Care safe for humans?
The research articles do not provide specific safety data for the Mobile Chatbot Support for Cancer Survivor Care, but they do mention the use of mobile apps and chatbots for managing symptoms and supporting cancer patients, which suggests these technologies are generally considered safe for use in humans.
16789How is the Mobile Chatbot Support for Cancer Survivor Care treatment different from other treatments for cancer survivors?
The Mobile Chatbot Support for Cancer Survivor Care is unique because it provides personalized support and information through a mobile app, which is more accessible and tailored compared to traditional in-person care. This approach aims to enhance self-efficacy, social support, and symptom management, improving the quality of life and psychological well-being of cancer survivors.
1011121314Eligibility Criteria
This trial is for adult survivors of childhood and young adult cancers (diagnosed from birth to age 39) who haven't had follow-up care in over 3 years. Participants must own a mobile device capable of SMS texts, speak English, consent to the study, and have their oncology team's approval.Participant Groups
The study tests 'Penny,' a chatbot designed to help cancer survivors reengage with healthcare by aiding in scheduling appointments and necessary medical procedures. It will be compared against the standard follow-up care practices.
2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Group I: Penny text-messaging programExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
Group II: Usual CareActive Control1 Intervention
Find A Clinic Near You
Research locations nearbySelect from list below to view details:
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA
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Who is running the clinical trial?
Abramson Cancer Center at Penn MedicineLead Sponsor
References
Study design and protocol for My Guide: An e-health intervention to improve patient-centered outcomes among Hispanic breast cancer survivors. [2021]Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in women and the leading cause of death among Hispanic women living in the United States. Relative to non-Hispanic white women, Hispanic women report poorer health related quality of life (HRQoL) after treatment. Although eHealth interventions delivered via Smartphones are a viable approach to addressing supportive care accessibility issues while also integrating multidisciplinary approaches for improving HRQoL, few eHealth interventions have been developed that specifically target Hispanic breast cancer survivors (BCS). This manuscript describes the methodology of a multi-site, randomized controlled behavioral trial investigating the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a Smartphone application aimed at improving HRQoL and cancer-specific distress among Hispanic BCS. Participants will be randomized to receive the intervention application, My Guide (psychoeducation & self-management program), or the health education control condition application, My Health (health education), for six weeks. All participants will also receive weekly telecoaching to enhance adherence to both control and intervention conditions. We will measure the study's primary outcomes, general and disease-specific HRQoL and cancer-specific distress, at three time points: prior to, immediately after the intervention, and eight weeks after initial application use. My Guide may have the potential to improve HRQoL, and to address issues of limited access to supportive care among Hispanic women recovering from breast cancer treatment.
Testing the Impact of a Cancer Survivorship Patient Engagement Toolkit on Selected Health Outcomes. [2020]To evaluate an interactive electronic Cancer Survivorship Patient Engagement Toolkit (CaS-PET) using a single-group pre-/post-test design.
Improving the delivery of team-based survivorship care after primary breast cancer treatment through a multi-level intervention: a pilot randomized controlled trial. [2023]We developed and tested a multi-level intervention, ConnectedCancerCare (CCC), which includes a tailored website and appointment reminder system for women with early-stage breast cancer and a provider summary letter sent to their medical oncologist and primary care provider to improve the delivery of team-based survivorship care.
THRIVE study protocol: a randomized controlled trial evaluating a web-based app and tailored messages to improve adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with breast cancer. [2022]Long-term use of adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) among women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer significantly reduces the risk of hospitalizations, cancer recurrence, and mortality. AET is associated with adverse symptoms that often result in poor adherence. A web-enabled app offers a novel way to communicate and manage symptoms for women on AET. In a region with significant racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes, our study tests the impact of a web-enabled app that collects and transmits patient-reported symptoms to healthcare teams to facilitate timely and responsive symptom management on medication adherence.
Improving access to supportive cancer care through an eHealth application: a qualitative needs assessment among cancer survivors. [2022]To gain insight into cancer survivors' needs towards an eHealth application monitoring quality of life and targeting personalised access to supportive care.
Caveat Medicus: Clinician experiences in publishing reports of serious oncology-associated adverse drug reactions. [2020]Oncology-associated adverse drug/device reactions can be fatal. Some clinicians who treat single patients with severe oncology-associated toxicities have researched case series and published this information. We investigated motivations and experiences of select individuals leading such efforts. Clinicians treating individual patients who developed oncology-associated serious adverse drug events were asked to participate. Inclusion criteria included having index patient information, reporting case series, and being collaborative with investigators from two National Institutes of Health funded pharmacovigilance networks. Thirty-minute interviews addressed investigational motivation, feedback from pharmaceutical manufacturers, FDA personnel, and academic leadership, and recommendations for improving pharmacovigilance. Responses were analyzed using constant comparative methods of qualitative analysis. Overall, 18 clinicians met inclusion criteria and 14 interviewees are included. Primary motivations were scientific curiosity, expressed by six clinicians. A less common theme was public health related (three clinicians). Six clinicians received feedback characterized as supportive from academic leaders, while four clinicians received feedback characterized as negative. Three clinicians reported that following the case series publication they were invited to speak at academic institutions worldwide. Responses from pharmaceutical manufacturers were characterized as negative by 12 clinicians. One clinician's wife called the post-reporting time the "Maalox month," while another clinician reported that the manufacturer collaboratively offered to identify additional cases of the toxicity. Responses from FDA employees were characterized as collaborative for two clinicians, neutral for five clinicians, unresponsive for negative by six clinicians. Three clinicians endorsed developing improved reporting mechanisms for individual physicians, while 11 clinicians endorsed safety activities that should be undertaken by persons other than a motivated clinician who personally treats a patient with a severe adverse drug/device reaction. Our study provides some of the first reports of clinician motivations and experiences with reporting serious or potentially fatal oncology-associated adverse drug or device reactions. Overall, it appears that negative feedback from pharmaceutical manufacturers and mixed feedback from the academic community and/or the FDA were reported. Big data, registries, Data Safety Monitoring Boards, and pharmacogenetic studies may facilitate improved pharmacovigilance efforts for oncology-associated adverse drug reactions. These initiatives overcome concerns related to complacency, indifference, ignorance, and system-level problems as barriers to documenting and reporting adverse drug events- barriers that have been previously reported for clinician reporting of serious adverse drug reactions.
A Mobile App to Stabilize Daily Functional Activity of Breast Cancer Patients in Collaboration With the Physician: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. [2022]The well-being of breast cancer patients and reporting of adverse events require close monitoring. Mobile apps allow continuous recording of disease- and medication-related symptoms in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Automated health chats for symptom management of head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. [2022]To report the early experience using an automated chatbot (Chats)for patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and symptom self-managementinhead and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing radiation treatment (RT).
Effectiveness of a Smartphone Application as a Support Tool for Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial. [2021]Outpatients undergoing cancer chemotherapy experience anxiety related to adverse drug reactions that they can experience at home. We developed a breast cancer patient support system (BPSS) application (app). The BPSS app chronologically and quantitatively records patients' subjective and objective symptoms during breast cancer chemotherapy, with the goal of providing supportive management for adverse drug reactions. The present study examined whether the BPSS app is an effective tool for supporting patients undergoing chemotherapy.
A mobile application of breast cancer e-support program versus routine Care in the treatment of Chinese women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. [2022]Women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy suffer from a number of symptoms and report receiving inadequate support from health care professionals. Innovative and easily accessible interventions are lacking. Breast Cancer e-Support is a mobile Application program (App) that provides patients with individually tailored information and a support group of peers and health care professionals. Breast Cancer e-Support aims to promote women's self-efficacy, social support and symptom management, thus improving their quality of life and psychological well-being.
BREATH: Web-Based Self-Management for Psychological Adjustment After Primary Breast Cancer--Results of a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. [2022]Early breast cancer survivors (BCSs) report high unmet care needs, and easily accessible care is not routinely available for this growing population. The Breast Cancer E-Health (BREATH) trial is a Web-based self-management intervention to support the psychological adjustment of women after primary treatment, by reducing distress and improving empowerment.
Use of Electronic Communication with Clinicians Among Cancer Survivors: Health Information National Trend Survey in 2019 and 2020. [2023]Purpose: To describe cancer survivors' use of electronic communication (e-communication) with clinicians and identify factors associated with their use, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Secondary analysis included cancer survivors (N = 1,482) from the combined Health Information National Trends Survey HINTS 5 Cycle 3 and Cycle 4. Survivors' use of e-communication was defined by at least one of four e-communication use behaviors in the past 12 months. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were conducted to examine factors associated with e-communication use. All analyses considered the complex survey design using the jackknife replication method. Results: The prevalence of e-communication use was 64% among cancer survivors. The overall e-communication use slightly increased after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (63% vs. 64%, p = 0.79). Older adults (≥65 years old) were less likely to use e-communication (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36-0.86); survivors who were white (OR = 2.30; 95% CI, 1.36-3.86), living in a metro area (OR = 2.47; 95% CI, 1.44-4.27), diagnosed with breast cancer (OR = 2.03; 95% CI, 1.06-3.88), seeking cancer-related information previously (OR = 2.89; 95% CI, 1.83-4.58), or having a regular health care provider (OR = 2.07,; 95% CI, 1.10-3.88) were more likely to use e-communication. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was marginally associated with the increased e-communication use (p = 0.053) when other variables were controlled. Conclusion: This nationally representative survey analysis has identified disparities in e-communication use among cancer survivors and revealed the potential increase in e-communication use under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional support is clearly warranted for those older, nonwhite, living in rural areas, or without a regular provider, to promote their e-communication use for the delivery of optimal and high-quality cancer care.
BECCA. [2019]Created by charity Breast Cancer Care, this app aims to help people with breast cancer adapt to life after hospital treatment ends.
Mobile Applications Available in Germany Supporting Breast Cancer Patients During Treatment and Aftercare: a Systematic Review. [2023]Purpose Systematic evaluation of health apps designed to support and aid remote monitoring of patients during breast cancer treatment and aftercare. Method A systematic search and assessment of apps was conducted using search terms: breast cancer; breast cancer therapy; and breast cancer aftercare. Evaluation criteria were user assessments, scientifically published benefits, user-friendliness, data protection, app individualization, motivation, and financial aspects. Up to two points (P) could be awarded per criterion. The lowest possible score was 0P and the maximum was 28P. Three examiners from different institutions independently assessed the apps according to the specified criteria. Reference value was defined as the average value given by the examiners. Apps with > 18P were classified as "recommended"; ≥ 11-≤ 18P as "partially recommended" and ≤ 10P as "not recommended". Results A total of 776 apps (n = 24 from the Apple App Store, n = 752 from the Google Play Store) were identified via search query. After applying exclusion criteria, 36 apps (n = 1 from the Apple App Store; n = 35 from the Google Play Store) were evaluated. Using the mean point values of the examiners, 20 apps were classified as not recommended and 12 as partially recommended (≥ 11-≤ 18P). Four apps were rated partially recommended by two examiners and recommended by one examiner. Three apps were rated as recommended by all examiners. Conclusion Only a small minority of available apps meet recommendation criteria. Use of these apps may benefit breast cancer patients.