ABSTRACT
Background. Purpose in life is important to health and well-being; purpose disruption often goes unidentified after breast cancer. Purpose. To evaluate the efficacy of a purpose renewal intervention and utility of a screening question for identifying people with purpose-related distress. Method. In this prospective pretest-posttest study, participants with breast cancer received an 8-session purpose renewal group intervention (n = 35). Participants completed standardized measures of meaning and purpose at pretest, posttest, and two-month follow-up and a forced-choice Purpose Status Question (PSQ) at pretest. Findings. Participants made statistically significant pretest-to-posttest and pretest-to-follow-up improvements. The PSQ demonstrated construct validity: 40% of participants lacked purpose direction at pretest and this subgroup made significantly greater improvements than participants who reported purpose direction at pretest. Implications. The PSQ warrants further study as a screener to identify people with purpose-related distress. Many breast cancer survivors may benefit from a purpose in life intervention; a subgroup may benefit more.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Cancer Survivors , Occupational Therapy , Female , Humans , Occupations , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND.: Performance-based multitasking assessments may be more sensitive than cognitive screens to detect executive dysfunction after a mild stroke. PURPOSE.: This cross-sectional study examined inter-rater reliability and preliminary convergent and discriminant validity of the Front Desk Duty Test (FDDT). METHOD.: Adults with mild stroke (n = 35) and community controls (n = 33) were administered the FDDT and other measures of executive functions. FINDINGS.: Inter-rater reliability of the FDDT subscores were high (ICC 0.971-0.999). There were weak but statistically significant correlations between participants' scores on some of the executive function tests and some FDDT subscores. Participants with mild stroke and community controls had statistically significant different FDDT scores (performance accuracy p = .006; performance time, p = .033), with rank order FDDT score patterns across community controls, participants with mild stroke who passed the executive function screen, and participants with mild stroke who failed the executive function screen. IMPLICATIONS.: Preliminary validation results suggest that the FDDT warrants further study.
Subject(s)
Executive Function/physiology , Multitasking Behavior/physiology , Neuropsychological Tests/standards , Occupational Therapy/standards , Return to Work/psychology , Return to Work/statistics & numerical data , Stroke Rehabilitation/standards , Adult , Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
This feasibility study evaluated the acceptability, implementability, and preliminary efficacy of a brief purpose renewal intervention (the Compass Course) using a one-group pretest-posttest design. Fifteen women who had completed treatment for early-stage breast cancer enrolled in the study. Twelve completed the eight-session group intervention that was designed to help participants identify daily priorities (actual and aspired) that most align with their personal strengths, values, and sources of meaning, that is, their inner compass. The intervention was found to be acceptable and implementable. Preliminary pre- and post-intervention outcomes suggested that participants experienced greater purpose in daily life at posttest but that they did not make demonstrable changes in their activities or roles. Results suggest that the Compass Course was feasible and further study related to purpose renewal for adults with early-stage cancer is warranted.
