Assessing the effectiveness of a mindfulness psychoeducation programme at preventing physical and psychological symptoms among cancer survivors

INTERVENTION: Before commencing the sample recruitment, the principal investigator will use IBM SPSS Statistics to generate three sets of non‐duplicating random numbers for the three study groups. These numbers will range from one to 150. During the recruitment period, each enrolled participant will receive a unique identification number (ID) based on his/her entry to the study. Participants with an ID that matches the numbers in each of the three study groups will be allocated to the groups accordingly. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1. Waitlist‐control group (no treatment) 2. Active control group (active control intervention) 3. Treatment group (intervention) 2. Active control intervention: The Palouse Mindfulness The Palouse Mindfulness (Potter, 2020) is a mindfulness‐based stress reduction programme (MBSR) developed and modified based on Kabat‐Zinn’s MBSR. Each session lasts 90 minutes. The Palouse Mindfulness is a general stress reduction programme without contents specific for cancer. Participants will be asked to do mindfulness practice at home for 10‐30 minutes per day. The Principal Investigator (Dr Piyanee Yobas), who specialises in Mental Health Nursing and received MBSR training, will serve as a group facilitator. 3. Intervention: The MindCAN programme The MindCAN programme was developed by Dr Piyanee Yobas with the aim to help cancer survivors learn to manage stress and regulate emotions. The contents of the programme include information specific for cancer survivors (such as stress concerning cancer symptoms and treatments). The eight weekly, group‐based MindCAN programme comprises two compone CONDITION: Alleviation of negative physical and psychological symptoms for cancer survivors ; Signs and Symptoms PRIMARY OUTCOME: Psychological well‐being measured with the 18‐item Psychological Well‐being scale before the beginning of the first intervention session, and at the end of sessions 4 and 8 (middle‐ and end‐point of the intervention) INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Adults of any gender aged 21 to 65 years 2. Having a confirmed diagnosis of any type of cancer stage 0 to III by their attending physician 3. Have completed all cancer and related treatments (such as chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, as prescribed by their attending physician), with the exception of hormonal therapy between 2 weeks to 2 years (Lengacher et al., 2016) SECONDARY OUTCOME: ; 1. Objective stress measured by peripheral skin temperature using a stress thermometer, and heart rate and SpO2 variability measured using Honour Band 5. Measured before and after each of the eight intervention sessions.; 2. Subjective stress, depression, and anxiety measured with the 21‐item Depression Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS‐21) before the beginning of the first intervention session, and at the end of sessions 4 and 8 (middle‐ and end‐point of the intervention); 3. Perceived relaxation assessed by the perceived relaxation scale before and after each of the eight intervention sessions; 4. Mindfulness measured with the 15‐item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) before the beginning of the first intervention session, and at the end of sessions 4 and 8 (middle‐ and end‐point of the intervention); 5. Resilience assessed by the 10‐item Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale before the beginning of the first intervention session, and at the end of sessions 4 and 8 (middle‐ and end‐point of the intervention); 6. Participants’ perceptions toward the two mindfulness interventions will be captured via focus‐group interviews conducted after the last of the eight intervention sessions;