What is iCanADAPT?

iCanADAPT is an online program that helps adults with cancer to learn skills to manage cancer-related symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants who register for iCanADAPT will be able to access online lessons and activities to work through over several weeks. Before starting each lesson, participants are asked to complete a brief questionnaire about how they are feeling.

iCanADAPT is for adults who are having or who have had treatment for cancer and are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. A cancer doctor, or a member of your cancer care team (clinical psychologist, cancer nurse coordinator, social worker) may refer their patients to an iCanADAPT program, or a person can choose to commence a program themselves.  

There are two iCanADAPT programs – iCanADAPT Early and iCanADAPT Advanced. The Early program is best-suited to people who have been diagnosed with early stage cancer. iCanADAPT Advanced is best-suited to people diagnosed with advanced cancer. If you are not sure which program to choose, talk to your cancer doctor or a member of your cancer care team.

iCanADAPT Early has 8 lessons.  iCanADAPT Advanced has 6 lessons. Lessons take around 1 hour to go through, but can be completed at your own pace. To get the most benefit from your program, we suggest completing a lesson and the activities that go with it every 1-2 weeks. This means that the iCanADAPT Early Program will take around 16 weeks to finish, and the iCanADAPT Advanced Program will take about 12 weeks to finish. As you finish each lesson in the Program, the next lesson will be ready for you to start one week after you have finished the one before. You will receive reminders by email that your next lesson is ready.

Each lesson in iCanADAPT Early and iCanADAPT Advanced has resources and suggested activities/homework to help you put the skills you learn into practice. We suggest spending 3-4 hours altogether on the activities and homework for each lesson but it is up to you whether you complete these extra activities or not. The questionnaires about how you are feeling before each lesson take around 2-5 minutes to fill out.

iCanADAPT gives you information and skills to help you learn to better self-manage the symptoms of anxiety and depression related to cancer.

A clinical psychologist employed at the University of Sydney will monitor your progress as you work through the program. The clinical psychologist will monitor your questionnaire responses and may try to contact you to discuss your responses. The clinical psychologist will not provide therapy, but may recommend you talk to your cancer doctor or GP to get additional support. If a participant needs urgent help, the clinical psychologist will make a referral to specialist services or contact emergency services if necessary.

Please note: iCanADAPT is unable to provide diagnosis, assessment or urgent help if you are experiencing a personal crisis or are at risk of immediate harm. You can find contact numbers for services to provide urgent help by clicking HERE.

If you have any technical issues with iCanADAPT, you can email us at pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au.  If you have questions or concerns about your physical or mental health, ask your cancer doctor, a member of your cancer care team or your GP.

We suggest you finish your program within 20 weeks, but you can access the program for 40 weeks. After this time your account will be closed. If you want to continue, you will need to re-register to begin the program again.

You should contact your cancer doctor or GP for more support and information. iCanADAPT is unable to provide diagnosis, assessment or urgent help if you are experiencing a personal crisis or are at risk of immediate harm. You can find contact numbers for services to provide urgent help by clicking HERE.

The iCanADAPT programs are managed by the Psycho-oncology Cooperative Research Group at the University of Sydney, Australia.

The information about you in iCanADAPT is used to monitor your progress. For further detail on how your information is used, please read the Terms of Use and Privacy Statement.

If you do not want to continue with your iCanADAPT program, please email pocog.adapt@sydney.edu.au and we will close your account. You may want to talk to your cancer care team or GP about other options for support.