Kudos to Sophia Smith and her Co-PI Matthew LeBlanc for their Duke Palliative Care Pilot award entitled: “Usability of a Mobile App to Improve Communication Around Symptom Management.” This proposal is for a one-year period with a start date of Jan. 1, 2018. This internal RFA sought proposals focused on interventions in communication and decision-making and were to include clinician-researcher collaborations. There were a total of 19 applications and three were selected for funding.

Background and Target Population

Cancer patients report with many physical and emotional symptoms.1,2 And, new treatments allow cancer patients to live longer,3-5 intensifying the need to manage the burdensome symptoms that result from cancer and its treatment. Many symptoms go underestimated6 and unreported,7,8 resulting in unmet needs.9 A recent study from Dr. Basch and colleagues (2017) has shown that the systematic collection of symptom information through patient reported outcomes is associated with increased quality of life and treatment toleration, decreased emergency department use, and increased one year and overall survival.10,11 While we know that improved symptom reporting is associated with improved outcomes,12 less is known about patient and clinician preferences for communication around symptom management. Multiple myeloma (MM) patients are noted amongst cancer patients to have a high symptom burden and low quality of life,1,13,14 providing an important target for intervention. And, our palliative care team’s preliminary data suggest that pain, fatigue, neuropathy, anxiety and fear of recurrence are commonly reported by Duke MM patients.15 Therefore, the MM community is an ideal population for our pilot study, which aims to:

AIM 1: Explore the communication needs and preferences of MM patients and clinicians around symptom management. Through semi-structured interviews, we will explore patients’ and clinicians’ perceptions and preferences concerning symptom management, and identify barriers and opportunities to enhance the process for both parties.

AIM 2: Develop and test a prototype app that facilitates communication between MM patients and clinicians around symptom management. Insights gained in Aim 1 will guide the revision of content in the Cancer Distress Coach (CaDC) app. Information relevant to MM symptom management and communication will be reflected in the new prototype app. Usability and acceptability testing will be conducted with participants.