Hospice Problem Solving Intervention

University of Washington

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hospice Informal Caregivers

Treatments: Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT01444027

1R01NR012213-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

36909

Details and patient eligibility

About

In recent years, the demand for home hospice care has grown rapidly. Family members and friends who act as informal caregivers are essential to the provision of palliative care services; however, this role is not without adverse effects on the caregivers themselves. It is well documented that emotional needs of individuals caring for dying persons in their home are not well attended, and interventions aiming to provide support to informal hospice caregivers are notably lacking. In this context, problem solving therapy (PST) provides an overall coping process that fosters adaptive situational coping and behavioral competence. The investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial to fully evaluate the PST intervention for informal hospice caregivers. Additionally, the investigators aim to evaluate how the modality of the intervention (face to face vs video) impacts its effectiveness. This investigator team is conducting a 4-year randomized trial study in which hospice caregivers will be randomly assigned to a group receiving standard hospice care with the addition of social support interactions (attention control group) or a group receiving standard hospice care with the addition of the problem solving intervention delivered face to face (intervention group 1) or a group receiving standard hospice care with the addition of the problem solving intervention delivered via video (intervention group 2). The specific aims include an assessment of the impact of PST on caregiver quality of life, problem solving ability, and caregiver anxiety.

Enrollment: 514 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• enrolled as a family/informal caregiver of a hospice patient
• 18 years or older
• with access to a standard phone line or Internet and computer access at home
• without functional hearing loss or with a hearing aid that allows the participant to conduct telephone conversations as assessed by the research staff (by questioning and observing the caregiver)
• no or only mild cognitive impairment
• speak and read English, with at least a 6th-grade education

Exclusion criteria

• lack of phone or Internet access

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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514 participants in 3 patient groups

Attention Control

No Intervention group

Description:

This group receives standard care with the attention of social support/ "friendly interactions" and serves as an attention control group.

Intervention Group 1 (Face to Face)

Experimental group

Description:

This group receives Problem Solving Therapy in face to face visits.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy

Intervention Group 2 (Video)

Experimental group

Description:

This group receives Problem Solving Therapy via video.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy