The National Institutes of Health Measure of Healing Experience of All Life Stressors (NIH-HEALS)

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Severe Chronic Illness

Study type: Observational

Funder types: NIH

Identifiers

NCT03871270

17-CC-00125

Details and patient eligibility

About

NIH-Healing Experience in All Life Stressors (NIH-HEALS) is a 35 item self-report questionnaire developed by the NIH Clinical Center Pain and Palliative care. It assesses an individual's mechanisms for coping as a means to reach "healing" during life's difficult situations and/or life limiting challenges. The factorial structure of the tool has been recently re-examined with 200 patients. The three main factors are: Connection (including religious, spiritual, interpersonal), Reflection/ Introspection, and Trust/Acceptance.

Full description

At the Clinical Center Pain and Palliative Care Service (PPCS) we have developed a pscyho-social-spiritual measure, the Healing Experience in all Life Stressors (HEALS), that focuses on the healing experience in people with severe and life limiting illness. We have validated this tool further in order to be able to identify those individuals who may benefit from additional interventions to cope with their illness and even assist them in reaching a healing experience that is possible even in the midst of their unfavorable circumstances. Identification of vulnerable individuals as well individuals who do have transformative experience after being diagnosed with severe and life limiting illness, has far-reaching impact on the quality of patient care for the very sick patients.

Enrollment: 200 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age of 18 or above
• The ability to read and write in English
• The presence or history of a serious and/or life-threatening disease

Trial design

200 participants in 1 patient group

Participants

Description:

Those with severe chronic illnesses, which included but were not limited to various forms of advanced cancer, blood dyscrasias, graft vs. host disease, and rare genetic conditions.