Manta Planner is based on science!

Manta Planner is based on science. We know from Dr. Ethan Basch's work that those who track symptoms tend to have better outcomes. We know from behavioral science that being organized and systematic leads to feelings of control. From BJ Fogg's work we know that subtle nudges can help us learn new behaviors (e.g., not eating certain types of foods). Lastly, we know that staying grateful and hopeful can improve our ability to ride this cancer train.

Let's look at the Daily Check In

We'll do a deep dive into one of the core sections of Manta Planner and show you how Manta Planner is designed to enable patients, survivors and caregivers to maintain and enhance your outcomes. 

The Daily Check In section brings together learnings from mindfulness based stress reduction, mood-journaling, medical-symptom tracking as well as nutrition science.

Gratitude & Hope Journal: The left side of the daily check in is designed to enable a grounding practice. Research supported and conducted by the NIH has shown the maintaining a gratitude journal enhances brain function, increases dopamine as well as reduces stress levels. Hope journaling is a relatively new and understudied area in cancer patients and survivors. A few studies have shown that patients who maintain a hope practice can increase their overall optimism. Gratitude & hope journaling is not just relevant to the patients. It is critical to the caregiver and the newly minted survivor. 

Symptom tracking leads to better outcomes was established numerous years ago by Dr. Ethan Basch's work. He demonstrated that tracking on-going symptoms can improve overall outcomes of care. This section of the planner receives a lot of positive feedback from both the oncologists, nurses and patients! This section is not just for active patients. Tracking long-range symptoms is critical to the survivor as well. It can enable long-term support of treatment side-effects as well as early detection of a recurrence or new cancer.