Project Description:

The focus for this proposal is to leverage findings from the PI’s Duke Roybal Center (P30AG064201, NIH/NIA) pilot in a new collaboration with Duke’s Pepper Center (P30AG028716-11, NIH/NIA) to investigate how participating in a psychosocial intervention titled “Self-System Therapy for Lung Cancer (SST-LC)” enhances both psychological and physical resilience in older adults with late-stage lung cancer. We will place specific attention to how measurement of psychological resilience may predict physical resilience in this vulnerable population.

Potential Impact:

While the study of resilience and how it is defined in older adults continues to evolve, we have an incredibly unique prospect to contribute to this conversation from the perspective of older adults facing advanced cancer. We believe that in the face of late-stage or terminal cancer, there are numerous opportunities to enhance the quality of life in older adults. One approach is to study sources of resilience that take a psychological and/or physical focus via an intervention that is simultaneously targeting psychological and physical well-being. Studying an intervention that targets mind-body health, we can take one step closer to how resilience is conceptualized and promoted based on the life circumstances of an older adult facing serious illness.

Next Steps:

Our next step is to use our study findings as preliminary data to submit an NIH R01 testing a randomized controlled study between our intervention group compared to usual care.

The importance/value of RCCN funding for this collaborative research:

The value of RCCN funding is the opportunity to leverage brilliant minds and resources afforded by multiple centers who have a focus on aging and function. Securing funding with RCCN has already opened several doors with creating new collaborations and enhancing deep and sustainable connections across the Duke Roybal Center, Pepper Center, and Wake Forest School of Medicine.