Desenvolvimento de um protótipo de aplicativo para a prática do mindfulness por mulheres com câncer de mama

Abstract

Breast cancer is a type of malignant neoplasm that mainly affects women. Its treatment varies according to the stage of the disease, but in many cases it is necessary to resort to mastectomy, a surgical procedure for partial or complete removal of the breast, which can negatively impact a woman's life, influencing her sexuality, femininity, affective relationships and social relationships. The diagnosis of breast cancer begins a long period of physical, emotional and psychological pain for the woman. In this sense, complementary therapies with meditation, such as mindfulness, can help women control anxiety and stress during breast cancer treatment, also helping in situations of post-surgical or chronic pain, in possible situations of depression, and in the treatment recovery process, as it strengthens the immune system. The practice of meditative exercises has been offered through several applications for mobile devices, but few of these have a mindfulness-based program and monitor the physical and mental state of the practitioner. In this way, the objective of this project is to present the development of an application to help women with breast cancer in the practice of mindfulness. The software development process considered three steps: requirements definition, project specification and software prototype construction. And as a result of this project, we have an executable prototype of the application, “MensSana”, which interactively enables the realization of a program for the practice of mindfulness. The tool provides text materials, containing instructions and descriptions of each exercise to be performed, and audio media with relaxing sounds to accompany the sessions. The technology also allows the practitioner to set up a schedule so that they are notified when the exercises are performed. The app also collects data about the physical and mental state of users.