Evaluating the Effects of a Tutorial on Usage of Digital Psychosocial Supports in Young Adults with Acute Leukemia

Abstract

Hospitalized young adults (YAs) receiving chemotherapy for acute leukemia experience significantly worse quality of life, higher anxiety, and increased post-traumatic stress disorder compared to older adults (Lockwood et al., 2022). At a large metropolitan tertiary cancer center in the northeast United States, there is no standard-of-care intervention that exposes YA patients (ages 18 to 42) to existing psychosocial supports. YAs are in a distinct developmental stage of life and face unique challenges while dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Disruptions to family, financial resources, education, and career can hinder normal development and lead to psychosocial distress as their path to independence is stifled. Many centers offer psychosocial supports, but there are no standardized guidelines that expose newly diagnosed patients to these supports. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to address this gap, focusing specifically on hospitalized YAs with newly diagnosed acute leukemia. The objective was to implement a standard-of-care intervention to expose all YAs with newly diagnosed leukemia to the Young Adult Program (YAP) smart device application (app), iAYA, which houses YAP's psychosocial supports. The goal was to determine if the intervention affected iAYA usage. The intervention consisted of an in-person tutorial on the iAYA app and a teaching session on navigating the app. Help was offered to install the app and apply for access. YAP granted iAYA app access within two to three days. iAYA app usage data showed that the 22% of participants who accepted help installing and applying for the iAYA app were the only ones to access it. Participants were also asked to complete a survey on the app, though only 11% did so. Results led to recommendations for a new workflow to give patients immediate access to the iAYA app, hypothesizing that the delay in app access reduced iAYA use among YAs with this acute, life-threatening disease.

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing | Oncology | Social Psychology

Subject Area

Nursing; Oncology; Health sciences; Social psychology; Health care management

Department

Nursing (NUR)

First Advisor

Stager, Sharon

Second Advisor

Reyes, Kaitlen

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.N.P.

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