With Love: Using Promotoras for a Hispanic Community Palliative Care Promotora Palliative Care

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso

Status: Completed

Conditions: Palliative Care

Treatments: Behavioral: Intervention (Promotora)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03736031

E18031

Details and patient eligibility

About

Despite being strongly recommended, the integration of palliative care in oncology has not been widely adopted. Very few people have access to comprehensive palliative care. Access is even lower in rural and Hispanic communities. Even in communities with access, uptake is often low due to a lack of education on the part of both patients and providers regarding palliative care. This study aims to use an innovative approach to provide quality palliative care to oncology Hispanic patients by using community health workers also known as promotoras.

Full description

Palliative care has been highly recommended to be an integral part of oncology yet very few people have access to comprehensive palliative care. Access is even lower in rural, low socio-economic and Hispanic communities. Palliative care has been shown to decrease healthcare costs. This study will use an innovative approach to provide quality palliative care to gynecology-oncology Hispanic patients by using community health workers also known as promotoras. The promotora model has been shown to be successful in several behavioral modification programs. The investigators aim to use promotoras to deliver a comprehensive and culturally sensitive educational intervention that covers self-care in the presence of cancer, advance directives, pain management, and care taker awareness. The goal of the intervention will be to decrease number of emergency department visits and hospital admissions of patients with advanced cancer, and increase the rate of completion of advanced directives, as well as improve overall quality of life (as measured by standardized scales) when comparing the intervention group vs. the control (usual care) group. The investigators will additionally assess the cost effectiveness of this intervention.

Enrollment: 102 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 100 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Must be 18 years or older
• Must be a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) or University Medical Center (UMC) El Paso patient
• Must be Hispanic
• Must have a cancer diagnosis

Exclusion criteria

• Under 17 years of age
• Not Hispanic
• Is not a patient of UMC or TTUHSC El Paso

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

102 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention (Promotora)

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group will have three face-to-face meetings with the promotora. Participant will continue to receive the standard of care for his or her oncologic diagnosis as determined by his or her treating oncologist over the course of the study. During the study period, all participants will complete baseline, interim and exit surveys covering demographics, quality of life and pain management. Information pertaining to hospitalizations and emergency room visits will be obtained from their medical records and public health records.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Intervention (Promotora)

Self-Education (Control)

No Intervention group

Description:

Participant will receive the standard of care for his or her oncologic diagnosis as determined by his or her treating oncologist over the course of the study. During the study period, all participants will complete baseline, interim and exit surveys covering demographics, quality of life and pain management. Information pertaining to hospitalizations and emergency room visits will be obtained from their medical records and public health records.