Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy for Cancer Patients

Psychosocial interventions, especially supportive-expressive group therapies, have been associated with significant improvements in health status, quality of life and coping behaviors, in patients with cancer. The purpose of the proposed pilot research study is to investigate a newly developed group therapy for cancer patients, MBAT. This proposed, randomized, controlled study follows a successful preliminary investigation of MBAT conducted at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. MBAT integrates known benefits of art therapy, group therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Each of these fundamentally different modalities has documented usefulness in the treatment of cancer patients. The multi-modal approach is designed to enhance both the supportive and expressive aspects of the group experience. The study will be done with 96 patients who have a variety of cancer types. Participants will be matched for age and assigned randomly to either the MBAT experimental group or a non-intervention control group. Both groups will continue to receive their usual oncologic/medical care. The MBAT program consists of eight weekly meetings of two and one half-hours in length. At the end of the eight weeks, participants in the control group will be crossed over to the experimental intervention arm for an additional eight weeks. Participants will be assessed pre- and post-intervention on measures of health-related quality of life, psychological distress, and coping, using standardized outcome instruments (SF-36, SCL-90-R and COPE). Our long-term goal is to collect sufficient data to determine the overall efficacy of this promising intervention and to identify which patients are particularly likely to benefit from MBAT.