Efficacy of a Digital Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for the Improvement of Self-management Behaviors and Psychological Flexibility in Adults With Cardiac Disease - Protocol for a Single Case Experimental Design

Objective

The objective of our research is to evaluate a digital ACT intervention for improving self-management behaviors and distress levels in those with cardiac conditions.

Methods

The digital ACT intervention will be delivered via a digital health self-management platform over 6 sessions. This will involve a randomized, multiple baseline, single case experimental design with approximately 3 to 15 adults with cardiac disease. The independent variable for each participant will be the pre-post intervention phase. The dependent variables will be a daily self-report measure of psychological flexibility as well as objective measures of condition self-management (eg, blood pressure readings) and engagement with the app (eg, completing guided mindfulness). One-to-one qualitative interviews will also be conducted to further examine participants’ experiences with using the intervention and what factors contribute to or impede successful outcomes.

Results

Participant recruitment and data collection began in October 2021, and it is projected that the study findings will be available for dissemination by spring 2022.

Conclusions

The findings will be discussed in terms of how a digital ACT intervention can best meet the needs of cardiac patients.