Mindfully Optimizing Delivery of End-of-Life Care (MODEL Care)

Indiana University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Coping Skills; Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: MODEL Care

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02367508

1312088151

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a mindfulness meditation-based intervention designed to provide a synergistic solution to the avoidant coping that often inhibits advance care planning discussions that are crucial to quality end-of-life care.

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Oncologists:

• Be a physician specializing in medical oncology
• Care for oncology patients at the affiliated cancer center
• Have a patient panel that will allow for ≥6 eligible patients to be enrolled in the study
• Be willing to attend the 5-session MODEL Care program for providers at the specified location, date, and time

Patients:

• Adults ≥ 18 years of age
• Receiving care from a medical oncologist enrolled in the study
• Diagnosed with an incurable and advanced-stage solid malignancy (late stage III [B or C] or stage IV)
• Have an attending medical oncologist who would not be surprised if the patient died in the next 12 months
• Willing and able to travel to the class location for 6 weekly 2-hour sessions
• Have a family member or friend eligible and interested in participating in the MODEL Care study
• Able and willing to provide informed consent
• Not have completed a Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment (POST) form

Family Caregivers:

• Adults ≥18 years of age
• Chosen by a family member or friend with cancer to join them in participating in the MODEL Care study
• Willing and able to travel to the class location for 6 weekly 2-hour sessions
• Able and willing to consent.

Exclusion criteria

Oncologists:

• Planning to leave current practice setting for other employment in the next 3 months.

Patients:

• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of >2 or Karnofsky performance status <60 (suggesting patient is capable of only limited self-care, confined to bed or chair more than 50% of waking hours, or requires considerable assistance and frequent medical care) as rated by the attending oncologist
• Currently receiving hospice care.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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31 participants in 1 patient group

MODEL Care

Experimental group

Description:

Mindfully Optimizing Delivery of End-of-Life Care (MODEL Care) is a mindfulness meditation-based intervention to facilitate timely advance care planning (ACP) and end-of-life conversations with greater ease. Participants are taught a variety of mindfulness practices (e.g., breath awareness, sitting meditation, mindful movement through gentle yoga, and mindful communication) that can be used to enhance end-of-life coping.

Treatment:

Behavioral: MODEL Care