NCT06538350

Telemedicine in Palliative Care: Interventions, Experiences and Perceptions of Patients Diagnosed With Cancer

Telemedicine in Palliative Care: Interventions, Experiences and Perceptions of Patients Diagnosed With Cancer Receiving Outpatient Palliative Care

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 160 (estimated)
• Sponsor: OncoHelp Association · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The aim of this study is to estimate the effects of a palliative care consultation intervention among adults with advanced cancer delivered either as a remote (telemedicine) or face-to-face consultation, on changing symptom scores, quality of life, communication, participants' experiences, e-health literacy, emergency and unscheduled visits, adherence to treatment, retention rate, adherence rate, the level of satisfaction of patients and healthcare professionals.

Detailed description

This is a prospective, single-centre, randomized, with parallel assignment, controlled trial, with a 1:1 allocation across two treatment arms: telemedicine consultations versus face-to-face consultations. All trial activities will be conducted through the Outpatient Clinic of OncoHelp Association located in Timisoara, Romania. Participants in this study will be recruited from newly diagnosed cancer patients who have not received palliative care interventions prior to enrollment. They are referred to the Outpatient Clinic of the OncoHelp Association for oncological and palliative registration, consultations, and treatment. After gaining informed consent, a baseline assessment will be collected, including screening feasibility for the telemedicine arm. The selected patients will be randomly allocated with a 1:1 ratio to receive either: Telemedicine consultation ( Intervention Arm) Group A Face-to-Face consultation ( Control Arm) Group B The participants will receive three monthly consultation and unscheduled consultations as they need according to the study arm they had been allocated. The participants will benefit from the following categories of interventions depending on their needs : 1. Communication of diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options 2. Mediation of patient-caregiver communication 3. Symptom control for pain, fatigue, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, comfort, dyspnoea, sweating, cough, constipation, haemorrhage, itching, secretions, dysphagia, appetite 4. Care of wounds, bedsores, stomas 5. End of life care 6. Patient and caregiver education 7. Psychological counseling 8. Reports for obtaining social rights (sickness pension, disability pension) 9. Reports for obtaining devices provided without personal contribution by the health insurance system 10. Referral for spiritual assistance 11. Management plan 12. Referral for specialized service level III 13. Referral for hospitalization 14. Unscheduled consultations

Conditions

• Advanced Cancer

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Telemedicine Consultation	Telemedicine intervention will be delivered via Zoom and Video WhatsApp platforms via a secure internet connection.
OTHER	Face-to-Face Consultation	Face-to-Face consultation according to the standard of care.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-10-01
• Primary completion: 2026-03-01
• Completion: 2026-03-01
• First posted: 2024-08-05
• Last updated: 2024-08-06