To date, several psychological interventions for fear of cancer recurrence are available. A novel, evidence- and theoretically-based intervention, namely ConquerFear, was recently developed to specifically target fear of cancer recurrence using the contemporary cognitive-behavioral approach. Given that beliefs about risk of cancer recurrence are not completely irrational, the ConquerFear (Hong Kong version called 'ConquerFear-HK’) intervention rather puts a focus on metacognitions (MCQ; i.e. beliefs about worry). Through face-to-face sessions led by trained therapists, the ConquerFear intervention therefore aims to help cancer patients with high FCR mainly by modifying metacognitive knowledge, disrupting maladaptive information processing, and promoting valued-based living. The potential effectiveness of ConquerFear in treating fear of cancer recurrence has been well-documented. In Chinese context, we recently developed and pilot-tested a culturally-adapted intervention version (ConquerFear-HK) for local cancer survivors with high feat, which showed that survivors receiving the ConquerFear-HK intervention had significantly improvements on fear of cancer recurrence and MCQ from pre-intervention to post-intervention.
However, this face-to-face therapist-led intervention is time and resource consuming, which may have constrained its reach particularly with limited healthcare budgets. Due to the limited resources available, it is likely that such a high-cost intervention will only be available to patients with clinically-significant levels of fear of cancer recurrence, limiting intervention options for those with subclinical levels of fear of cancer recurrence. Thus, there seems to be an urgent need to develop a less-resources intensive intervention such as self-management via online platform to individuals with subclinical levels of fear of cancer recurrence.
This feasibility study aims to adapt ConquerFear-HK to an internet-based self-management intervention, namely eConquerFear-HK and evaluate in a randomised controlled trial, its feasibility, utility, and potential effectiveness on fear of cancer recurrence reduction among local Chinese cancer survivors with subclinical levels of fear of cancer recurrence.
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