Description

The long-term goal is to develop multilevel interventions and inform practice guidelines that mitigate the cancer therapy related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) burden in breast cancer survivors. The overall objective of this of this application is to develop and test a virtual reality (VR) intervention to educate breast survivors about their risk of developing CTRCD following treatment and about behavioral approaches to potentially mitigate risk. VR is emerging as an effective method for improving health-related knowledge, specifically in the context of CTRCD and cardiovascular risk factors, by allowing users to actively engage in medical content. Moreover, content can be tailored to groups of people and to each individual user. The central hypothesis is that the VR intervention will increase women's knowledge of the potential cardiovascular side effects of their treatment and of behavior modifications that may protect their hearts. This hypothesis was formulated preliminary data showing that survivors who received potentially cardiotoxic treatment recommended more information about their treatment and the importance of physical activity early in their primary treatment journey. The rationale for the proposed study is that although VR is gaining popularity as an educational tool, there remains a significant knowledge gap in its utilization in the context of cancer survivorship and implantation in clinic settings.