Clinical trial NCT01444027: Hospice Problem Solving Intervention
Official title: A Problem Solving Intervention for Hospice Caregivers
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hospice Informal Caregivers
Lead sponsor: University of Washington
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
First posted: 2011-09-30
Enrollment: 514
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: 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.


Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Caregiver Anxiety: Change From Baseline to Post-Intervention Exit
timeFrame: At Baseline and Exit (approximately 4 weeks after recruitment)
measure: Caregiver Quality of Life - Physical: Change From Baseline to Post-Intervention Exit
timeFrame: At Baseline and Exit (approximately 4 weeks after recruitment)
measure: Caregiver Quality of Life - Social: Change From Baseline to Post-Intervention Exit
timeFrame: At Baseline and Exit (approximately 4 weeks after recruitment)
measure: Caregiver Quality of Life - Emotional: Change From Baseline to Post-Intervention Exit
timeFrame: At Baseline and Exit (approximately 4 weeks after recruitment)
measure: Caregiver Quality of Life - Financial: Change From Baseline to Post-Intervention Exit
timeFrame: At Baseline and Exit (approximately 4 weeks after recruitment)
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: University of Washington
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Washington
name: George Demiris, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Starr LT, Bullock K, Washington K, Aryal S, Parker Oliver D, Demiris G. Anxiety, Depression, Quality of Life, Caregiver Burden, and Perceptions of Caregiver-Centered Communication among Black and White Hospice Family Caregivers. J Palliat Med. 2022 Apr;25(4):596-605. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2021.0302. Epub 2021 Nov 18.
citation: Demiris G, Oliver DP, Washington K, Pike K. A Problem-Solving Intervention for Hospice Family Caregivers: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019 Jul;67(7):1345-1352. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15894. Epub 2019 Apr 4.
citation: Benson JJ, Parker Oliver D, Demiris G, Washington K. Accounts of Family Conflict in Home Hospice Care: The Central Role of Autonomy for Informal Caregiver Resilience. J Fam Nurs. 2019 May;25(2):190-218. doi: 10.1177/1074840719828091. Epub 2019 Feb 17.
citation: Tarter R, Demiris G, Pike K, Washington K, Parker Oliver D. Pain in Hospice Patients With Dementia: The Informal Caregiver Experience. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2016 Sep;31(6):524-9. doi: 10.1177/1533317516653825. Epub 2016 Jun 14.
citation: Oliver DP, Demiris G, Washington KT, Clark C, Thomas-Jones D. Challenges and Strategies for Hospice Caregivers: A Qualitative Analysis. Gerontologist. 2017 Aug 1;57(4):648-656. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnw054.
citation: Washington KT, Pike KC, Demiris G, Parker Oliver D, Albright DL, Lewis AM. Gender Differences in Caregiving at End of Life: Implications for Hospice Teams. J Palliat Med. 2015 Dec;18(12):1048-53. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2015.0214. Epub 2015 Oct 20.
citation: Washington KT, Pike KC, Demiris G, Oliver DP. Unique characteristics of informal hospice cancer caregiving. Support Care Cancer. 2015 Jul;23(7):2121-8. doi: 10.1007/s00520-014-2570-z. Epub 2014 Dec 30.
citation: Washington KT, Wittenberg-Lyles E, Oliver DP, Baldwin PK, Tappana J, Wright JH, Demiris G. Rethinking family caregiving: tailoring cognitive-behavioral therapies to the hospice experience. Health Soc Work. 2014 Nov;39(4):244-50. doi: 10.1093/hsw/hlu031.
citation: Washington KT, Demiris G, Pike KC, Kruse RL, Oliver DP. Anxiety among informal hospice caregivers: an exploratory study. Palliat Support Care. 2015 Jun;13(3):567-73. doi: 10.1017/S1478951513001193. Epub 2014 Feb 13.
citation: Demiris G, Parker Oliver D, Capurro D, Wittenberg-Lyles E. Implementation science: implications for intervention research in hospice and palliative care. Gerontologist. 2014 Apr;54(2):163-71. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnt022. Epub 2013 Apr 4.