Cancer during a pandemic: A psychosocial telehealth intervention for young adults.

The SARS-II COVID-19 pandemic has posed pronounced global health threats and prompted assorted transformations in societal engagement and clinical service delivery. For cancer survivors, many of whom are immune-compromised, these pandemic-related health threats pose greater challenges, warranting extra precautions within everyday living. Young adult (YA) cancer survivors already confront many unique physical and emotional challenges specific to their demographic. Already comfortable with assorted technologies, the pandemic presented an opportunity to provide telehealth intervention that targeted social isolation and distress in an effort to facilitate healthy coping. Within this context, we created an 8-week telehealth intervention for YAs (age 18-39) comprised of 60-minute sessions with interventions derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy. Participants reported a reduction in anxious preoccupation, helplessness/hopelessness, and psychological inflexibility and provided rich qualitative feedback on their experiences. Findings contribute new insight for an underinvestigated population navigating the dual health threats of cancer and COVID-19, provide practice recommendations with attention to the value of qualitative data capturing in group settings, and underscore participants' preference for flexible group structure and age-related connections.

Feasibility and Impact of a Student-Led, Semi-Structured, Near-Peer Student Guides Program on Navigating Through Medical School.

BACKGROUND: Mentorship is critical to developing health professionals. Near-peer mentorship pairs senior mentors with junior peers to help navigate academic, professional, and social aspects of training. METHODS: In this convergent parallel mixed methods study, we assessed the feasibility, usability, professional and social impact, and barriers to implementation of a 16-week semi-structured, near-peer, student guides program involving 39 first year medical students (MS1s) and 41 fourth year medical students (MS4s). Student enrollment was quantified, guide-guidee meetings tracked, and > 2 meetings defined as feasible. Meeting topics, impact on student advising, and barriers to sustainability were contextualized qualitatively. RESULTS: Twenty-two percent of all MS4s and 46% of MS1s enrolled in the program; 67% of guides facilitated the requisite two meetings with their group, which was less than our predetermined feasibility criteria of 75%. Most guide-guidee interactions occurred in person (91%), but text messages (82%) and video/mobile messaging apps (78%) were also used. Ninety-two percent of guidees recommended the program, and 85% were satisfied with guidance received. Barriers included meeting coordination, infrequent meetings, and informal meeting structure. CONCLUSIONS: While the program was infeasible by predefined frequency criteria, participant satisfaction was high and academic, professional, and social benefits of near-peers were reported. In response, programmatic revisions now incorporate centralized support for meetings, e-mentorship, and guide training.

Relational Mindfulness for Psychiatry Residents: a Pilot Course in Empathy Development and Burnout Prevention.

OBJECTIVE: Psychiatry residents face challenges daily that test their capacity to be empathic and attuned to their own self-care. This can have a deleterious impact not only on the residents but also on patient-care. Training to manage the challenges of the work and cultivate stronger patient relationships is needed but often missing in medical education. This study aimed to pilot an empathy training course based in relational mindfulness and assess the impact on burnout and empathy. METHODS: Seven first-year psychiatry residents (PGY-1) at an academic medical center in a mid-size city in the southeast participated in an eight-week pilot program created by the authors that integrated relational mindfulness and empathy training. Data were gathered from the seven PGY-1s on measures of burnout and empathy and on their experience of the training. RESULTS: The PGY-1s demonstrated a downward trend in means on all three burnout subscales and significant improvement on the measure of empathy (f = 8.98; p = .02). Overall, the PGY-1s reported an increased awareness of their cognitive and emotional experiences and stated that the skills learned in the program increased their ability to care for themselves, their patients, and their families. CONCLUSIONS: Training in intrapersonal and interpersonal attunement is often overlooked in medical training, leading to resident burnout and negative patient outcomes. An empathy course based in relational mindfulness may be a viable strategy for programs looking to attend to their residents' emotional health and bridge the empathy training gap.