NCT04733469

EMPOWER 3: Improving Palliative Care Health Literacy and Utilization

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 172 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Tulane University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Through this award, Michael Hoerger, PhD, MSCR, a psychologist at the Tulane Cancer Center in Louisiana, will lead a study called EMPOWER 3 designed to test an educational intervention to help patients understand palliative care, use it, and feel better emotionally and physically. Participants will be adults with serious cancer diagnoses. Participants will be randomized into two groups. Patients in the control group will get enhanced usual care, meaning standard cancer care and several additional healthcare-related brochures. Patients in the intervention group will get enhanced usual care plus an educational video developed by the investigators and other materials designed to increase understanding and use of palliative care. Family members of patients in the intervention group may also attend if desired. The investigators will track participants' understanding of palliative care, attitudes toward palliative care, symptoms over 6 months of follow-up, and palliative care utilization.

Conditions

• Cancer
• Neoplasm Malignant

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Multimedia Psychoeducational Intervention	The Multimedia Psychoeducational Intervention includes a multimedia educational video plus additional resources to reinforce the video content. The Multimedia Psychoeducational Intervention includes the following: * A multimedia educational video about palliative care that is individually tailored to each patient's level of education and health literacy * Take-home and online copies of the video for repeat viewing * A video summary * A question prompt list patients can use to ask clinicians more questions about palliative care * Contact information and brochures for local palliative care programs
BEHAVIORAL	Enhanced Usual Care	Enhanced Usual Care refers to usual care plus minor enhancement to improve quality and standardization. Enhanced Usual Care includes the following: * Usual care * A packet of flyers and handouts with general information on psychosocial oncology services derived from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), and American Cancer Society (ACS)

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-03-31
• Primary completion: 2026-04-30
• Completion: 2026-08-31
• First posted: 2021-02-02
• Last updated: 2026-02-02

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States