NCT03794635

An Intervention to Help Patients and Caregivers Manage Stress and Improve Communication Skills When Talking About Cancer

A Communication-Based Intervention for Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads to Increase Engagement Treatment Planning and Reduce Caregiver Burden

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 45 (actual)
• Sponsor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will test an intervention to improve patients' and their caregivers' ability to manage difficult emotions and communicate about the patient's illness. There will be two versions of the intervention used for this study: a culturally tailored version for Latinx participants refined during Phase 1 of this study, and a version of the intervention that was not culturally tailored for Latinx patients and caregivers developed in previous work. The two interventions differ in minor content areas. We will use the culturally tailored intervention for Latinx participants and the non-tailored intervention for non-Latinx participants. This culturally sensitive intervention has the potential to reduce Latino/a patient and caregiver distress and improve patient and caregiver quality of life, shared understanding of the patient's illness, and patients' and caregivers' ability to discuss, identify, and document patients' treatment preferences. The intervention is designed to minimize burden to patients, caregivers, and healthcare institutions to allow for easy integration into clinical practice.

Conditions

• Metastatic Cancer
• Locally Advanced Cancer
• Thoracic Cancer
• Gynecologic Cancer
• Genitourinary Cancer
• Lymphoma

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Weekly 45 minute Sessions	The current intervention consists of seven, weekly,45-minute sessions conducted over the telephone using the TAC manual workbook. MSK-approved platforms (such as Webex or Cisco Jabber) can be used for telephone calls in this study. There will be two versions of the intervention used for this study: 1. A culturally tailored version for Latinx participants refined during Phase 1 of this study (available in English and Spanish) 2. A version of the intervention that was not culturally tailored for Latinx patients and caregivers developed in previous work. The two interventions differ in minor content areas. The culturally tailored intervention for Latinx participants and the non-tailored intervention for non-Latinx participants will be used. Interventions will occur weekly with a plus three-week window. Characteristics of prognostic discussions between patients and caregivers and health providers will be assessed at baseline and post-intervention.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-12-20
• Primary completion: 2026-12-01
• Completion: 2026-12-01
• First posted: 2019-01-07
• Last updated: 2026-01-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States