Mobile app helps to track breast cancer survivors’ experiences

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A new patient-centered mobile app and interactive research study, entitled Share the Journey: Mind, Body and Wellness after Breast Cancer, has launched.

The app is open for American women of ages is open to women of ages 18 through 80 (regardless of their breast cancer status) and acts as a repository of participant feedback on breast cancer and health experiences via well-validated surveys, symptom reporting, and more.

Cancer survivors can share their experiences through the app, and add to the data collected at the same time.

UCLA cancer research pioneer Dr. Patricia Ganz, currently director of cancer prevention and control research at the Jonsson Cancer Center, was a principal collaborator, in conjunction with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Penn Medicine, Sage Bionetworks, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

One of the goals of this project is to collect information on negative treatment effects and elements of the survivors experience more easily missed during infrequent doctor visits.

Via Share the Journey, survivors of breast cancer can participate as data owners and take a more active role in steering treatment and research directions. The information is vital for researchers and will help them more fully understand the patient experience and analyze recovery patterns. 

Share the Journey is being launched in conjunction with Apple's ResearchKit. More information about Share the Journey may be found here: http://sharethejourneyapp.org/.