Nissim, Rinat, Freeman, Emily, Lo, Chris, Zimmermann, Camilla, Gagliese, Lucia, Rydall, Anne, Hales, Sarah, and Rodin, Gary (2012) Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM): a qualitative study of a brief individual psychotherapy for individuals with advanced cancer. Palliative Medicine, 26 (5). pp. 713-721.

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Abstract

Background: Although psychosocial care has been regarded as central to palliative and supportive care, there have been few empirically tested approaches to individual intervention.

Aim: The subjective experience of advanced cancer patients receiving a new manualized brief individual psychotherapy, referred to as Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM), was examined prior to the initiation of a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of this intervention.

Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who had a diagnosis of advanced cancer, and who underwent the intervention.

Setting/Participants: Patients were recruited from a large urban regional cancer center in Toronto, Canada. The 10 interviewees included seven women and three men. All had completed between three to six CALM sessions prior to the interview.

Results: The CALM intervention was associated with profound and unique patient-identified benefits and no patient-identified risks or concerns. Five interrelated benefits of the intervention were identified: (1) a safe place to process the experience of advanced cancer; (2) permission to talk about death and dying; (3) assistance in managing the illness and navigating the healthcare system; (4) resolution of relational strain; and (5) an opportunity to ‘be seen as a whole person’ within the healthcare system. These benefits were regarded by participants as unique in their cancer journey.

Conclusions: Findings from a qualitative study suggest that the CALM intervention provides substantial benefits for patients with advanced cancer prior to the end of life. Findings informed the development of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention.

Item ID:	86502
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1477-030X
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s) 2011
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2025 23:08
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520399 Clinical and health psychology not elsewhere classified @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420316 Palliative care @ 50%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200499 Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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