Aim: Pain is common in cancer and results in significant impact on quality of life and function. Approximately 25% of people attending ambulatory oncology services have pain ≥5/10 in severity. Non-pharmacological strategies are safe and effective although there is a nation-wide lack of access for patients to non-pharmacological treatments. There is therefore a need for scalable, cost-effective translation of evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions including exercise, mindfulness, and relaxation to manage cancer pain. We aim to describe development of an app to deliver evidence-based interventions for self-management of cancer pain.
Method: Meditations including for breathing techniques; relaxation; guided imagery; desensitization; body scan; sitting with sounds, thoughts, feelings, and sensation; difficult thoughts and feelings; compassion, kindness and gratitude; and mindfulness meditations for intense pain based on evidence were written and recorded by Dr Skye Dong. Exercises including stretching, resistance based on Cancer Council resources and tai chi were demonstrated and filmed. The app was released.
Results: The free app was released in September 2022 and at the time of writing had been used over 5000 times. Patient feedback confirms feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness. A nurse said "I have a young patient (42yrs) with mets in his sacral spine. He was really struggling with this pain and the side effects of the increasing doses of morphine. After downloading the (Cancer Pain) app last visit he called me today to say that he has been meditating, breathing through his incident pain ... This has helped him to not need any BT medications all week. He was chuffed to be able to go to his nephew's birthday party this weekend and not feel groggy at all."
Conclusion: There is a need for scalable non-pharmacological interventions for cancer pain. The Cancer Pain app can deliver self-management strategies for people with cancer-related pain.