NCT02892006

LOL: It's All Improv After Cancer! The Impact of Improvisational Comedy on Well-Being Among Patients With Cancer

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Managing distress and improving well-being is critically important for optimal survivorship care. Treatment of distress leads to better adherence to treatment, better communication, fewer calls and visits to the oncologist's office, and avoidance of development of severe anxiety or depression. Based on national guidelines, distress is typically managed with pharmacologic options (i.e. benzodiazepines), support groups, individual counseling, or chaplaincy services. To our knowledge, the role of a structured improvisational comedy (improv) program in reducing distress and improving well-being has never been evaluated in the oncology setting.

Detailed description

With over 14 million cancer survivors today in the United States comes a unique constellation of challenges and opportunities for health care providers trying to optimize health at a time when many patients are struggling and open to learning new skills for strengthening their own resiliency and ability to cope. Not only does a significant subset of patients with cancer experience an increase in negative emotions, such as distress, anxiety and depression, but they often also experience a lack of positive emotions (Hart 2010). Managing distress and improving well-being is critically important for optimal survivorship care. Treatment of distress leads to better adherence to treatment, better communication, fewer calls and visits to the oncologist's office, and avoidance of development of severe anxiety or depression (Partridge, Wang et al. 2003; Carlson and Bultz 2004; 2014). Based on national guidelines, distress is typically managed with pharmacologic options (i.e. benzodiazepines), support groups, individual counseling, or chaplaincy services. To our knowledge, the role of a structured improvisational comedy (improv) program in reducing distress and improving well-being has never been evaluated in the oncology setting.

Conditions

• Distress
• Breast Neoplasms
• Quality of Life

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Improvisational Comedy	6 week curriculum in improvisational comedy. Each class meets for 1.5 hours for 6 consecutive weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-11-30
• Primary completion: 2017-12-20
• Completion: 2017-12-20
• First posted: 2016-09-08
• Last updated: 2018-09-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States