This part is a little daunting: waiting on pins and needles to hear back - to hear anything at all -from Capital Health’s Research Ethics Board (REB), the people who are going to tell me what is okay with my study, what simply cannot be done, what isn’t feasible, what needs to be changed, and all of the other things I haven’t yet considered! I’ve been waiting for approximately five weeks and expect to hear something any moment now (*fingers crossed*). My advisor and I decided to go through Capital Health’s REB since Capital Health has a reciprocal agreement with Dalhousie, and as such, I would receive ethical approval from both Capital Health and Dalhousie University, getting help from both institutions along the way.
I’m completing a MSc in kinesiology at Dalhousie and am also a certified yoga instructor. Yoga has been shown to have many positive health benefits, including reducing psychological distress and improving quality of life. With a little luck and a lot of support from my advisor, Dr. Melanie Keats, my two passions – cancer research and yoga - have collided. For my thesis - “Yoga’s Effect on Quality of Life and Psychological Distress in Key Caregivers of Cancer Survivors” - I’m recruiting people who fulfill the extremely demanding, selfless, and crucial role of caregiving for people who have cancer. The six-week yoga intervention is two 75-minute sessions per week. Participants will fill out pre- and post-yoga intervention questionnaires to measure physical activity levels, psychological health, and overall well-being (quality of life).
I’ve gone back and forth on the best way to assess changes in caregivers’ quality of life and psychological distress. The data determines the analysis, so deciding what data to collect is central to the study. After extensive research and numerous discussions with my professors, I have decided to use the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (thankfully also known as the SF-36) to examine quality of life in caregivers. The SF-36 is a multi-purpose, short-form health survey with 36 questions. Items are combined to form four physical domain scales: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health problems, bodily pain, and general health perceptions - summarized as the Physical Component Summary Scale. The four mental domain scales are vitality (energy/fatigue), social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems, and general mental health and are summarized as the Mental Component Summary Scale. Recently in a bibliographic study on the development of “quality of life” measures, the SF-36 was judged to be the most widely evaluated generic patient-assessed health outcome measure.
The Profile of Mood States (POMS) assesses psychological distress, one of the most studied aspects of quality of life. The POMS measures mood disturbance across six domains: tension-anxiety; depression-dejection; anger-hostility; vigor-activity; fatigue inertia; and confusion-bewilderment. The POMS is a commonly used measure of psychological distress and can be administered to a variety of healthy, physically ill, or psychiatric populations. Because it measures state elements – how someone feels at that moment - previous administrations don’t influence subsequent administrations, making it excellent for repeated measures.
Finally, using open-ended questionnaires, I will also ask participants what mental or physical skills they’ve learned, what they thought about being in the presence of caregivers, what they would like to be different, and information regarding the overall logistics of the yoga program.
Caregivers are a very difficult group to recruit – they often feel guilty about taking time for themselves or time away from their loved one. However, it is my hope that I will be able to recruit 15 to 20 people in order to run two groups with approximately 7 to 10 participants each. I am doing everything I can think of to achieve these numbers, and luckily, I am also receiving lots of help! Various organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Caregivers Nova Scotia, and of course the Canadian Psychosocial Oncology Partners are helping my recruitment process and will be sending out emails, posting recruitment flyers on their websites, and spreading the word! Additionally, with the help of certain physicians and social workers, I will be posting flyers in hospitals and at support group locations – once I receive ethics approval, of course! I am also toying with the idea of placing a small add in The Coast, Halifax’s alternative weekly newspaper, but am not sure if that is the best route to go.
For now, I’m on pins and needles, waiting to hear from the Ethics Boards and eager to move forward with my project. I will keep you all posted!
I’ve gone back and forth on the best way to assess changes in caregivers’ quality of life and psychological distress. The data determines the analysis, so deciding what data to collect is central to the study. After extensive research and numerous discussions with my professors, I have decided to use the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (thankfully also known as the SF-36) to examine quality of life in caregivers. The SF-36 is a multi-purpose, short-form health survey with 36 questions. Items are combined to form four physical domain scales: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health problems, bodily pain, and general health perceptions - summarized as the Physical Component Summary Scale. The four mental domain scales are vitality (energy/fatigue), social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems, and general mental health and are summarized as the Mental Component Summary Scale. Recently in a bibliographic study on the development of “quality of life” measures, the SF-36 was judged to be the most widely evaluated generic patient-assessed health outcome measure.
The Profile of Mood States (POMS) assesses psychological distress, one of the most studied aspects of quality of life. The POMS measures mood disturbance across six domains: tension-anxiety; depression-dejection; anger-hostility; vigor-activity; fatigue inertia; and confusion-bewilderment. The POMS is a commonly used measure of psychological distress and can be administered to a variety of healthy, physically ill, or psychiatric populations. Because it measures state elements – how someone feels at that moment - previous administrations don’t influence subsequent administrations, making it excellent for repeated measures.
Finally, using open-ended questionnaires, I will also ask participants what mental or physical skills they’ve learned, what they thought about being in the presence of caregivers, what they would like to be different, and information regarding the overall logistics of the yoga program.
Caregivers are a very difficult group to recruit – they often feel guilty about taking time for themselves or time away from their loved one. However, it is my hope that I will be able to recruit 15 to 20 people in order to run two groups with approximately 7 to 10 participants each. I am doing everything I can think of to achieve these numbers, and luckily, I am also receiving lots of help! Various organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Caregivers Nova Scotia, and of course the Canadian Psychosocial Oncology Partners are helping my recruitment process and will be sending out emails, posting recruitment flyers on their websites, and spreading the word! Additionally, with the help of certain physicians and social workers, I will be posting flyers in hospitals and at support group locations – once I receive ethics approval, of course! I am also toying with the idea of placing a small add in The Coast, Halifax’s alternative weekly newspaper, but am not sure if that is the best route to go.
For now, I’m on pins and needles, waiting to hear from the Ethics Boards and eager to move forward with my project. I will keep you all posted!
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