ABOUT THIS STUDY

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test whether an intervention – a web-based mindfulness meditation intervention – is well-received by patients like yourself and improves your quality of life and well being. Previous research has shown that mindfulness meditation is helpful in reducing distress, both in everyday life and for people who are dealing with illness.

Mindfulness meditation can be described as a mental exercise that focuses a person’s attention on what is happening at a particular moment. This practice teaches people how to observe the world and their own feelings objectively and how to become more calm and clear in their thinking. Mindfulness meditation has helped people to develop patience and become more relaxed while at the same time remaining alert. Up to now, most programs have taught mindfulness meditation in a face-to-face setting. This approach limits the number of people who can take advantage of this training. In this study, we want to see how well mindfulness meditation works when it is presented over the internet.

Intervention

• You will be asked to complete 6 sessions of the intervention. Each session will be presented orally over the website, so you can hear the instructor leading you through the session. The content of the session is also in written form on the website, along with visual images and links to other websites you may find helpful.

• The sessions include activities to try. We recommend that you keep a diary to record your experience with this intervention. This may help to keep track of any questions you may have. Whether you keep a diary and what you write in it is up to you.

• You will also be able to use an online public forum on the website. The forum will function as a “thread” message board where you can post messages on a certain topic or question related to the study, and others will be able to respond to it. This will allow you to have discussions with other participants at your convenience. Before using the public forum, you will first need to create a password. This password will be used before each time you enter the forum, to ensure your privacy.

• You will also be asked to fill out a few questionnaires. The questionnaires ask about how you are feeling, problems that you may have because of your cancer, and general information about yourself. The questionnaires are given to you twice during the study. You already completed them once, before you began the meditation program, at the Cancer Research Center. You will also be asked to complete more questionnaires about six weeks later. For the second set of questionnaires, we’ll mail the forms to you ahead of time and give you self-addressed stamped envelopes to send them back. Like questionnaires you have already completed, the second set of surveys should take about 30 minutes to complete.