Home_Based Digital Mindful Dance Program for Breast Cancer Cases: Feasibility, Body-Mind Awareness and Quality of Life

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic at the end of 2019, maintaining social distance has become an important strategy to avoid virus infection. Various interventional care intervention that traditionally need to be implemented face-to-face also urgently need to be adjusted to online with the assistance of digital technology tools. Provide (e.g. video clinic).

Although the current epidemic situation has tended to stabilize, however, for breast cancer patients, they are often in a state of "social isolation" physically and mentally from the beginning of diagnosis and treatment to the survival stage after treatment.

Because breast cancer patients often need to receive chemotherapy, they are affected by drugs and produce bone marrow suppression, resulting in lower autoimmune function than normal people. They belong to a high-risk group of infection, and they need to take self-protection measures and reduce going to public places. Even if all cancer treatments have been completed and are in the survival period, some patients may choose to leave the hard-working workplace early due to fear of cancer recurrence or social prejudice to reduce stress and health threats, but they are also worried about the burden on their families and loss of life. Center of gravity, when multiple psychological pressures continue to accumulate, it is easy to cause emotional distress such as anxiety or depression, and it also seriously affects interpersonal relationships and social skills. Therefore, whether it is in the treatment stage or the survival stage, the body and mind often suffer from a negative state like "social isolation" .

Mindfulness is consciously aware of the present body, mind and environment, and maintains an objective, permissive, and non-judgmental attitude. Its exercises include breathing observation, body scanning, meditation, walking, yoga, and relaxation techniques. Dance is a dual-task activity that integrates cognitive, motor, and emotional tasks through a combination of spatial awareness, motor coordination, balance, endurance, and interaction. Past studies have pointed out that mindful dance measures through mindfulness techniques, dance movements, or a combination of the two can help breast cancer patients improve their quality of life, reduce depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue symptoms, improve sleep quality, and reduce the fear of cancer recurrence and many other benefits.