Clinical trial · Interventional
Effect of Group Led Creative Writing on Mood in Cancer Patients
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether creative writing in newly diagnosed cancer patients and those with recent progression in their disease will have a positive impact on their mental health. Using a randomized controlled trial approach, emotion thermometers will be employed to evaluate participants' responses on a number of domains, such as anxiety, depression, despair, and anger along with a series of survey questions to monitor changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Open-ended survey questions will be used to capture how a creative writing intervention impacts participants' experience of their illness. Melissa Greene's Write from the Heart program focuses more on creative writing rather than cancer focused topics. Patients in the intervention arm will complete -one and a half hour group sessions every two weeks over the span of 3 months. Participants in the active control arm will be provided a book (i.e., Writing Down Bones by Natalie Goldberg) about creative writing and will be asked to do activities for 1.5 hrs every 2 weeks for a period of 3 months.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer Patients | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Writing Workshop | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Independent Writing - Control Group | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Creative Writing Workshop
- description
- The intervention arm will receive a dedicated workshop for one and a half hours every 2 weeks for 3 months.
- interventionNames
- Other: Creative Writing Workshop
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Independent Writing - Control Group
- description
- The control arm will receive a book (i.e., Writing Down Bones by Natalie Goldberg) on creative writing and asked to read and do writing activities for one and a half hours once every two weeks for 3 months.
- interventionNames
- Other: Independent Writing - Control Group
Primary outcomes (6)
- measure
- Emotional Thermometer Subscale 1- Distress at Final
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 20 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: Newly diagnosed with any stage or type of cancer within 3 months OR progression of disease within 3 months of enrollment. Recurrence of cancer within 3 months of enrollment would also be eligible as it will be considered as progression of cancer Ability to understand English language and ability to write without any functional difficulty ECOG performance status 0-3 Exclusion Criteria: Inability to give informed consent Severe psychiatry illness (e.g., uncontrolled depression, schizophrenia or psychosis) Severe cognitive impairment Pregnant females Inability to write or understand English
References
Publications (1)
- RESULTDOI: 10.1200/JCO.2017.35.31_suppl.178 Journal of Clinical Oncology 35, no. 31_suppl (November 2017) 178-178.