Mindfulness to Enhance Quality of Life and Support Advance Care Planning

Mindfulness meditation practices have reduced emotional distress, avoidant coping, and improved spiritual well-being in adult cancer patients. These beneficial effects may occur through present-moment acceptance of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and circumstances and adaptive coping through self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence. Most mindfulness trials in cancer have focused on early-stage survivors; however, preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness may help reduce distress in patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers (FCGs). Sixty patients with an advanced-stage solid malignancy and their FCGs (60 dyads) will be randomized in equal numbers to receive either the 6-week mindfulness intervention or usual care. Both groups will receive standard cancer care throughout the study period. Dyads randomized to the mindfulness arm will learn mindfulness meditation practices (e.g., body scan, sitting meditation) and mindful communication practices to enhance quality of life, support advance care planning engagement, and improve a variety of secondary outcomes. The study will use a mixed methods 2-arm randomized design to examine the effects of the mindfulness intervention compared to usual care and seek to explain trial results using insights gleaned from post-intervention qualitative interviews.