. 2022 Jul 25;18(2):425–438. doi: 10.1007/s11764-022-01233-9

Table 3.

Qualitative evaluation of iConquerFear

Themes, description and illustrative quotes
Acceptability of iConquerFear Participants reported overall satisfaction with iConquerFear and perceived it to be an informative, reassuring, useful and effective tool for managing FCR: I liked it a lot it certainly helped me to face some of my worries or concerns that I am now able to let go (WA005) I am starting to sleep a little better & not stress out as much or worry at night about my fear of cancer returning (NSW002) By empowering women to self-manage their FCR, iConquerFear was reported to help women transition back into the routine of daily life, regardless of their stage of survivorship: I learned ways to become more aware and how to manage my thoughts and fears about cancer (NSW007) Participants also expressed satisfaction in the ability to revisit the intervention to download resources for continued use: l have downloaded the resources so l can use them, in particular so l can continue doing the attention training (WA007)
Challenges with engagement Reported engagement barriers included technical issues, access difficulties and some content not resonating with personal experience Several participants noted system glitches, such as inability to hear sound recordings and input responses to questions. Some found email prompts to engage with iConquerFear overly frequent. Participants also reported the intervention was not particularly mobile friendly: It was trickier to use on a mobile phone than on a laptop. The scrolling button on the very right-hand side is difficult to see, but that may be just my computer (NSW001) It will be good in the future when the clunkiness of the system can be removed so the user interaction is more seamless (NSW003) Multiple participants identified limited time as an engagement barrier, and one participant reported limited motivation to complete recommended tasks: I wasn’t able to keep up with each module in the required timeframe due to work and home pressures, and it was annoying not being able to access modules I had missed (ACT002) The potential for iConquerFear to trigger distress, was also raised as a concern: I found the initial module triggered my fears of recurrence and I felt upset more generally. This seemed to lead to a significant period of stress and fatigue for me (WA002) Some participants reported certain content did not resonate with them and had particular difficulty relating to the breast cancer survivor featured in videos throughout iConquerFear: The words from the cancer survivor—everyone’s experience is so different, and she is such a different age bracket to me that I found it hard to relate to anything she was saying—I appreciate what the section is trying to do but it’s very hard to put a person in that role who will resonate with all people, and she really didn’t with me unfortunately (NSW008)
Recommendations for improvement A few participants expressed a need for more resources on lifestyle and family support. In terms of content design, participants recommended making resources easier to find to aid navigation, and to have a wider representation of cancer survivors to allow for more relatable content: Perhaps drawing from a range of age groups in the images used—young women, middle aged women, older women. That would have made it more relatable for me (SA001)

Themes, description and illustrative quotes

Acceptability of iConquerFear

Participants reported overall satisfaction with iConquerFear and perceived it to be an informative, reassuring, useful and effective tool for managing FCR:

I liked it a lot it certainly helped me to face some of my worries or concerns that I am now able to let go (WA005)

I am starting to sleep a little better & not stress out as much or worry at night about my fear of cancer returning (NSW002)

By empowering women to self-manage their FCR, iConquerFear was reported to help women transition back into the routine of daily life, regardless of their stage of survivorship:

I learned ways to become more aware and how to manage my thoughts and fears about cancer (NSW007)

Participants also expressed satisfaction in the ability to revisit the intervention to download resources for continued use:

l have downloaded the resources so l can use them, in particular so l can continue doing the attention training (WA007)

Challenges with engagement

Reported engagement barriers included technical issues, access difficulties and some content not resonating with personal experience

Several participants noted system glitches, such as inability to hear sound recordings and input responses to questions. Some found email prompts to engage with iConquerFear overly frequent. Participants also reported the intervention was not particularly mobile friendly:

It was trickier to use on a mobile phone than on a laptop. The scrolling button on the very right-hand side is difficult to see, but that may be just my computer (NSW001)

It will be good in the future when the clunkiness of the system can be removed so the user interaction is more seamless (NSW003)

Multiple participants identified limited time as an engagement barrier, and one participant reported limited motivation to complete recommended tasks:

I wasn’t able to keep up with each module in the required timeframe due to work and home pressures, and it was annoying not being able to access modules I had missed (ACT002)

The potential for iConquerFear to trigger distress, was also raised as a concern:

I found the initial module triggered my fears of recurrence and I felt upset more generally. This seemed to lead to a significant period of stress and fatigue for me (WA002)

Some participants reported certain content did not resonate with them and had particular difficulty relating to the breast cancer survivor featured in videos throughout iConquerFear:

The words from the cancer survivor—everyone’s experience is so different, and she is such a different age bracket to me that I found it hard to relate to anything she was saying—I appreciate what the section is trying to do but it’s very hard to put a person in that role who will resonate with all people, and she really didn’t with me unfortunately (NSW008)

Recommendations for improvement

A few participants expressed a need for more resources on lifestyle and family support. In terms of content design, participants recommended making resources easier to find to aid navigation, and to have a wider representation of cancer survivors to allow for more relatable content:

Perhaps drawing from a range of age groups in the images used—young women, middle aged women, older women. That would have made it more relatable for me (SA001)