Recruiting

Digital Art Therapy

Sponsor:

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Code:

NCT06789666

Conditions

Cancer

Pediatric Cancer

Pediatric Malignancies

Pediatric Sarcoma of Soft Tissue

Adolescent and Young Adult With Brain Cancer

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

ARTCan App

Study Details

Brief summary:

This is a single-site, single-arm, interventional study assessing the feasibility of the ARTCan Therapy Application (App) and whether it is an acceptable means of administering art therapy to young adult cancer survivors. The ARTCan Therapy App guides participants through a 6-week digital art therapy program. Subjects will participate in weekly art therapy prompts guided by the app and will complete weekly mental health quality of life (MHQoL) surveys during the intervention. In addition, baseline and end-of-intervention patient-reported outcome measures (PROMIS-DSF8a) and an acceptability survey will be administered. The hypothesis is that digital art therapy is feasible for young adult cancer survivors with self-reported mood issues and is an acceptable means of administering art therapy in the patient population.

Conditions

Cancer

Pediatric Cancer

Pediatric Malignancies

Pediatric Sarcoma of Soft Tissue

Adolescent and Young Adult With Brain Cancer

Study ID

NCT06789666

Start date

Apr 7, 2025

Status verified date

Sep, 2025

Completion date

Apr, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

In order to participate in this study a subject must meet all of the eligibility criteria outlined below.

  • Written informed assent and parental consent obtained to participate in the study and HIPAA authorization for release of personal health information.
  • Subject is willing and able to comply with study procedures based on the judgment of the investigator.
  • Age 18-25 years at the time of consent.
  • Childhood cancer survivor, defined as having cancer between birth 17 years of age and who has completed cancer treatment.
  • Reliable internet connection and access to a computer, smartphone, or iPad to support application and virtual study visits.
  • Answers "yes" to the question "Do you experience mood issues (yes or no)?".

Exclusion Criteria:

  • All subjects meeting any of the exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from study participation.
  • Patients who lack interest in art. Screening question: Are you open to making art on a scale from 1-5 (1 being not at all, and 5 being very much; must score 3 or higher).
  • Subjects who lack basic technology skills (Screening question: On a scale of 1-5 (1 being uncomfortable, and 5 being very comfortable), how would you rate your comfort using websites. Must score 3 or higher).
  • Subjects unable to provide consent.
  • Other conditions or factors which in the opinion of the Pl would not make the patient a good candidate for the study.

Study Design

Enrollment

15 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Supportive Care

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Digital Art Therapy

All participants will receive art therapy via the ARTCan App for 6 weeks, and will also be prompted to complete mental health quality of life surveys at baseline and each week, which will be available for the therapist to review.

Interventions

ARTCan App

The ARTCan App is an art therapy technology application program. The application can be accessed via the web (via computer, phone, or on a device such as an iPad). With the use of the application, participants complete weekly sessions that culminate in an "art" piece. Note that participants are not required to have expertise in drawing; developing art skills or assessing the quality of art pieces is not the focus of the ARTCan program.

Subjects will upload a photo of the art they created to this application to show proof of completion of art therapy. They will also answer questions specific to the art therapy theme for the week.

Primary outcome measure

  • Feasibility of art therapy [ Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Devin McCarthy

919-445-4208devin_mccarthy@med.unc.edu

Patricia Brock

919-962-8491patriciabrock@med.unc.edu

Locations

Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Recruiting

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599

Contacts

Devine McCarthy

919-445-4208devin_mccarthy@med.unc.edu

Patricia Brock

+1 919-962-8491patricia_brock@med.unc.edu

Principal Investigator:

Soma Sengupta, MD

More Information

Sponsor

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Last update posted

Sep 16, 2025

Last verified

Sep, 2025

Keywords

  • therapy
  • art
  • mental health quality of life
  • patient-reported outcome
  • ARTCan application
  • digital art therapy

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center on 2025-09-16.