During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with cancer experienced heightened anxiety. A brief, five-minute guided meditation, self-administered via personal mobile devices while waiting after a vaccination, significantly reduced acute anxiety more than usual care. Among 256 adult patients, 14% reported moderate to severe anxiety. The intervention is feasible for outpatient oncology settings and can be implemented by nurses to support emotional well-being.
Chronic pain is common among cancer survivors but often goes untreated. Existing treatments carry risks or offer limited relief, and non-drug options have shown only modest benefits. Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), an intervention that targets the neurocognitive mechanisms of chronic pain, has helped people without cancer but had not been tested in cancer survivors. This pilot trial enrolled 60 cancer survivors with moderate-to-severe pain (average age 60; 75% female) and randomly assigned them to one of three MORE formats (16, 8, or 2 hours) or a waitlist. MORE proved feasible, with high enrollment (71%) and assessment completion (91%), and acceptable, with high adherence and satisfaction.