Improved rates of cancer control have increased the head and neck cancer survivor population. Cancer survivorship clinics are not widely available in the USA, and longitudinal supportive care for patients undergoing multimodal therapy has not advanced at a pace commensurate with improvements in cancer control. Consequently, a large head and neck cancer survivor population whose quality of life may be chronically and/or permanently diminished presently exists. This lack of awareness perpetuates under-recognition and under-investigation, leaving survivors’ (mostly detrimental) experiences largely uncharted. We conducted a qualitative exploration of survivors’ experiences, aiming to unpack the profound impact of late systemic symptoms on daily life, encompassing work, relationships, and self-identity in the head and neck cancer survivor community. The study included 15 remitted head and neck survivors, ≥12 months from their final treatment, who participated in semi-structured interviews conducted by a medical oncologist. Data analysis comprised qualitative thematic analysis, specifically inductive hierarchical linear modeling, enriched by a deductive approach of anecdotal clinical reporting. Results highlighted that 43.36% of all quotation material discussed in the interviews pertained to chronic emotion disturbance with significant implications for other domains of life. A central symptom cluster comprised impairments in mood/emotions, daily activity, and significant fatigue. Dysfunction in sleep, other medical conditions, and cognitive deficits comprised a secondary cluster. Physical dysfunctionality, encompassing pain, appetite, and eating, and alterations in experienced body temperature, constituted a tertiary cluster, and perhaps were surprisingly the least discussed symptom burden among head and neck cancer survivors. Symptoms causing heightened long-term survivor burden may be considered epiphenomenal to central physical dysfunctionality, albeit being presently the least represented in cancer survivor care programs. Moving forward, the development of targeted and multi-dimensional treatment programs that encompass physical, psychosocial, and spiritual domains are needed to increase clinical specificity and effective holistic long-term solutions that will foster a more compassionate and informed future of care for the cancer survivorship community.

Introduction: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is one of the promising treatments with no known side effects for neuropsychiatric conditions such as Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the mechanism of action underlying MBCT is not clearly understood. Here, we applied resting-state EEG microstate analysis and machine learning modeling to characterize brain network dynamics in adults with ADHD exposed to MBCT. Methods: Sixty-one participants were randomized to a 12-week MBCT intervention or waitlist control (WL), with clinical assessments and EEG recordings collected pre-to-post trial. We analyzed the microstate dynamics of EEG data in different frequency bands, comparing four microstate classes (A-D), and the cross-correlation of microstate dynamics with clinical measures. Furthermore, machine learning computational techniques were applied to predict which patients can benefit more from the MBCT intervention based on their brain dynamics pre-treatment. Results: Microstate analyses revealed significant MBCT-related alterations in temporal dynamics, including increased coverage and duration of microstates A and B, as well as changes in individual explained variance in microstate A (theta band) and microstate D (alpha band). Coverage and explained variance for microstate B also showed significant changes across the full spectrum. These changes were strongly correlated with improvements in ADHD symptomatology, mindfulness skills, quality of life, and executive function across seven clinical domains. Critically, machine learning models predicted individual treatment responses with 83% accuracy using microstate dynamics. Discussion: These findings demonstrate that MBCT systematically reshapes resting-state neural microstates in ADHD, including microstate classes A, B, and D, and suggest that computational EEG biomarkers may inform precision approaches to mindfulness-based interventions.

Legacy, profit-driven organizational structures often lack the adaptability, equity, and innovation required for the evolving complexities of contemporary patient-centered care. They can limit access, constrain options, impose financial burdens, and hinder optimized delivery. Here, we propose a new architecture for metaversal integrative healthcare using decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Blockchain technology and smart contracts underpin equitable, transparent, and resilient health ecosystems beyond institutional gatekeeping and entrenched hierarchies. Central to this innovation is the introduction of Ecosystem Value Networks (EVNs), which quantify how diverse contributors, including patients, function as “wellness stewards” within decentralized, interconnected networks of value. EVNs represent a paradigm shift from transactional, top-down authority structures toward relational, emergent, and self-perpetuating interconnected systems. By programming prosocial principles into the architecture of DAOs via governance tokens, digitally encoded collective voting, autonomous smart contract enforcement, and transparency-by-design; these dynamics intrinsically reinforce collaborative over competitive behaviors and outcomes. Traditional institutions often reward dominance, prestige, and hierarchy, that represent conditioned patterns rooted in ancestral scarcity-based modes of fear and control; ill-suited for equitable healthcare. DAOs and EVNs, in contrast, condition new modes of operation grounded in abundance, interdependence, and shared stewardship. Over time, these digital frameworks can transform how health knowledge is generated, distributed, and enacted, establishing a “new normal” from the inside out, in which interconnectivity defines leadership and value. Moving from vision to strategy, this work maps a pathway toward truly participatory (opposed to nominal or symbolic), adaptive, and value-responsive healthcare systems for the new digital age.