Guest Post by Kristen D. Rosen MPD, PhD (Candidate)

DIVAS Study: Help us evaluate a mindfulness app for women with breast cancer

We are asking for your help to evaluate a mindfulness app and learn more about using mobile technology to deliver health interventions to women with breast cancer.

Mindfulness training may help people with a variety of conditions, including breast cancer. This study uses an app for your smartphone or tablet to provide the training. The convenience of app-based training may make it easier to practice mindfulness. However, many mindfulness apps have not been tested.

The DIVAS Study provides no-cost access to a popular mindfulness app. The DIVAS research team is not affiliated with the app developer. Our previous work with breast cancer survivors helped us identify the best app for this project.

How this study works:

Your participation in the DIVAS study will last 12 weeks. During the first week, you’ll be randomly assigned to one of two study groups.
— Group 1 will get the mindfulness app right away
— Group 2 will get the mindfulness app at the end of 12 weeks

We will also ask you to complete online questionnaires at 4 time-points throughout the study. Your questionnaires will be completed using a secure database. The app developers will not have access to your questionnaire responses. A member of the research team will check in with you weekly.

This unfunded study has been approved by the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Institutional Review Board as expedited research (45 CFR 46.101(b)(2)) regarding the methods and protection of rights of participants.

Kristen Rosen, M.P.H. is the Principal Investigator on this study. Findings from this study will support Ms. Rosen’s dissertation for her PhD in psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Jennifer Sharpe Potter, Ph.D., M.P.H. is the co-Investigator and Ms. Rosen’s mentor. Dr. Potter is an established investigator of clinical psychology and health behavior and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.

We’d love to hear from you!
Contact us through our webpage www.opalresearch.org/participate/divas or email: opal@uthscsa.edu