ArticlePalliative & supportive care2015
Visible ink: A flexible and individually tailored writing intervention for cancer patients.
Article in Palliative & supportive care, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cancer and aging: Reflections for elders- Expressive writing intervention: A pilot study.Journal of geriatric oncology · 2022Trial
- Assessing the Psychosocial Impact of Expressive Writing on Adults With Spinal Cord Injury: Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Exploring the Therapeutic Role of Coach-Guided Videoconferencing Expressive Writing in Multiple Sclerosis: A Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Examining the artist-patient relationship in palliative care. A thematic analysis of artist reflections on encounters with palliative patients.Arts & health · 2019Article
- Palliative Care and the Humanities: Centralizing the Patient at the End of Life.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesSubjective reports on the effectiveness of and satisfaction with writing interventions in medical populations have indicated that they can have a profound impact on patients. Further, past research on these programs has demonstrated that they can lead to a number of different positive outcomes depending on the personal characteristics of the participating patients and the type of writing with which they are tasked. For this reason, a flexible and individually tailored writing intervention may be particularly effective for patients, molding its approach to their desires and backgrounds. This paper examines Visible Ink, a writing program for cancer patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) that follows this model.
methodsAt Visible Ink's First Fall Writing Festival in November 2012, an optional survey was provided to all program participants in attendance, capturing both quantitative and qualitative information on patient experiences in the program. Twenty-nine surveys were completed.
resultsThe program appears to have a variety of positive effects, including fostering personal growth and providing a positive distraction. Respondents reported that they write in a number of different genres on topics both related and not related to their illnesses, which supports the flexible model of the program. All respondents indicated that they would recommend the program to others, and satisfaction with the program's general approach (i.e., individualized work with a writing coach) was unanimous. A few areas for potential improvement were also identified, most of which involved expanding the services and events offered by the program. SIGNIFICANCE OF
resultsDespite the limitations of this survey (e.g., small sample size and low response rate), its results support the promise of the Visible Ink model and demonstrate participants' satisfaction with the program. Future research can more thoroughly examine Visible Ink's effectiveness, and additional resources could enable the program to expand.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.