JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There is a need for tools to decrease cancer patient/survivor long-term symptom burden. Complementary strategies, such as meditation, can accompany pharmacologic therapy to improve symptoms. Although support programs with targeted content have wider reach, higher adherence, and greater impact, there are no consumer-based meditation apps designed specifically for cancer.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to gather information to advise the development of a cancer-specific meditation app in a small convenience sample of cancer patients/survivors who currently use the Calm app.

Methods:

Adult cancer patients/survivors who are Calm users (N=82) were recruited through the Daily Calm Facebook page. Participants completed a web-based survey related to Calm app use and satisfaction, interest in and ideas for a cancer-specific Calm app, and demographic characteristics. Open-ended responses were inductively coded.

Results:

Participants’ were between 18 and 72 years old (mean=48.60, SD=15.20), mostly female (94%; 77|82), White (82%; 65|79), non-Hispanic (93%; 70|75), and reported using Calm at least five times per week (60%; 49|82). Although rates of satisfaction with current Calm components were high (79%[65|82]-63%[51|81]), only 49% (40|82) used guided meditations that they felt specifically helped with their cancer-related symptoms/survivorship and 40% (33|82) would prefer more cancer-related content, with guided meditations for cancer-specific anxieties (e.g., fear of recurrence) (n=15) and coping with strong emotions (n=12) being the most common suggestions. A majority of participants (62%; 51|82) reported they would be interested in becoming a member of a Calm cancer community (e.g., in-app discussion boards [89%; 41|46], social media communities [83%; 35|42]). Almost half of participants (45%; 37|82) indicated that they would benefit from features that tracked symptoms in concurrence with app usage, but respondents were divided on whether this information should be shared with healthcare providers through the app (60% [49|82] would share).

Conclusions:

Responses suggest ways in which the current Calm app could adapted to better fit cancer patient/survivor needs and preferences, including adding more cancer-specific content, increasing the amount of content focusing on coping with strong emotions, developing communities for Calm users who are cancer patients/survivors, and including features that track cancer-related symptoms. Given differences in opinions about which features were desirable or would be useful, there is a clear need for future cancer-specific apps to be customizable (e.g., ability to turn different features on/off). While future research should address these topics in larger, more diverse samples, these data will serve as a starting point for the development of cancer-specific meditation app and provide a framework for evaluating their effects.