SBIR-STTR Award

This Phase I project will investigate the feasibility of utilizing the medium of spoken audio to introduce cancer patients to mind/body (behavioral) approaches to cancer survivorship, including stress management, relaxation techniques, cognitive therapy and group support. Mind/body techniques will be described as complementary to, not alternatives for, medical treatment. Cancer patients will listen and react to a pilot audiotape developed by an experienced public radio production company. The audio presentation will feature health professionals skilled in mind/body interventions as well as cancer survivors who have experienced such interventions. A Phase I evaluation will determine the pilot's comprehensibility and appeal as well as its impact upon listeners' knowledge and attitudes. In Phase II, a series of audio productions, conveying mind/body strategies for cancer, will be developed and tested with different populations. The particular characteristics of the listening experience for patients and others will be investigated. The audio programming will eventually be released for national broadcast on public radio and also be made available to cancer patients via cassette tape, compact disc, internet audio and other media. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Licensing of audio product for national radio broadcast; sale of audio cassettes to oncology clinics, public health agencies, libraries, counseling centers; dissemination and sale through internet audio channels.

Thesaurus Terms:
alternative medicine, audiotape, autogenic training, educational resource design /development, mind control, psychological aspect of cancer, stress management, technology /technique development attitude, behavior therapy, group counseling, relaxation, training aid clinical research, human subject

An experienced Public Radio production company will develop a series of spoken-word audio presentations about complementary mind/body (behavioral) approaches to cancer survivorship. The audio content, designed for patients with cancer, will introduce listeners to relaxation techniques, principles of cognitive therapy that can interrupt patients' worrying, the role of support groups and other strategies capable of improving quality of life for patients. The segments will be presented in richly produced Public Radio style, drawing on narration, explanations by medical experts, anecdotal accounts by patients who have adopted these self-care practices, music and other elements. Based on extensive message development findings from Phase I, editorial design of the programs will be informed by expert consultants and audience testing. Once completed, patient response to the audio programs will be measured in a randomized control trial involving 196 patients recruited through cancer centers at several Boston-area hospitals. Investigators will compare patients who receive the audio plus a brochure about mind/body programs with patients who receive only the brochure. Their rates of enrollment in clinical mind/body programs, psychological status and adoption of self-care mind/body practices will be tracked. In Phase III, the audio programs will be made commercially available to cancer treatment facilities, oncology professionals, pharmaceutical firms providing patient information and other distribution channels. In addition, the series will be released for Public Radio broadcast throughout the United States.

Thesaurus Terms:
alternative medicine, audiotape, autogenic training, educational resource design /development, mind control, psychological aspect of cancer, stress management, technology /technique development attitude, behavior therapy, group counseling, relaxation, training aid clinical research, human subject