Mindful self-compassion for lung cancer (MSC-LC): Incorporating perspectives of lung cancer patients, clinicians, and researchers to create an adapted intervention to reduce lung cancer stigma.

BACKGROUND

Stigma is a pervasive and distressing problem experienced frequently by lung cancer patients, and there is a lack of psychosocial interventions that target the reduction of lung cancer stigma. Mindful self-compassion (MSC) is an empirically supported intervention demonstrated to increase self-compassion and reduce feelings of shame and distress in non-cancer populations. However, there are several anticipated challenges for delivering MSC to lung cancer patients, and modifications may be needed to improve acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility.

PURPOSE

To gather feedback from lung cancer patients, psycho-oncology researchers, expert MSC teachers, and oncology clinicians to identify themes supporting the adaptation of MSC to reduce lung cancer stigma.

METHODS

We conducted a two-phase process of stakeholder focus groups with researchers and clinicians (n=12) and semi-structured interviews with lung cancer patients (n=14) with elevated stigma. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified: (i) Patients expressed a desire for an intervention that bolstered self-compassion and addressed stigma; (ii) Intervention instructions were acceptable and understood clearly; (iii) Patients preferred intervention content to directly address lung cancer and stigma yet mentioned that doing so should be done with sensitivity; (iv) Ambivalence about delivering the intervention in person or remotely; (v) Acceptance for an intervention of 8-weeks (or longer) with 90-minute sessions and a group size of ≤ 15.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings informed the development of an adapted clinical protocol for MSC for lung cancer (MSC-LC), which can be pilot tested to determine implementation outcomes (e.g. acceptability, feasibility, efficacy).