Clinical trial NCT05222308: Advanced Planning for Online Accounts and Data
Official title: Advanced Planning for Online Accounts and Data of Patients With Metastatic Cancer
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: SUSPENDED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Terminal Cancer
Metastatic Cancer
Lead sponsor: University of Colorado, Denver
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: U.S. National Science Foundation
First posted: 2022-02-03
Enrollment: 300
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 100
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: This study aims to identify the challenges that online accounts and data present at the end of life. This study will engage life-limited cancer patients through longitudinal qualitative and technology design methods (action research, contextual inquiry, and participatory design) to:

1. empirically identify challenges that death presents for users; and
2. develop and validate strategies for end-of-life planning related to online accounts and data that honor human dignity while addressing the challenges and constraints of technology design.

Investigors will engage patients and their family/loved ones in a consulting and supportive role to:

1. identify their needs and challenges,
2. develop and implement an end-of-life plan, and
3. support family/loved ones with the execution of this plan after the patient dies.
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The proposed research consists of engagements with terminal cancer patients and their friends and family as they engage in end-of-life planning.

Detailed description: Through personal interviews, the Investigator will identify end-of-life needs/wishes. The Investigator will engage in value elicitation activities to identify both what the values are that should inform the work with the participant, as well as the source of values and the agency people have in relationship to the participant.

In many cases, participants will have already engaged in versions of these conversations focused on other domains in their life (e.g., finances, funerary wishes, etc.). As such, the interviews will also identify how wishes related to online accounts and data align with wishes from other domains.

Based on needs identified during the previous stage, the investigators will support patients and networks in articulating a set of requests and preferences, and work with participants to develop and implement a plan to fulfill these requests. Throughout this stage the investigator's focus is on how participants' high-level wishes can be translated into specific technical practices and features, a challenge identified in prior work. Focusing on this translation will allow the study team to develop post-mortem plans for the participants while also systematically identifying types of breakdowns that can be addressed in future design research. The study team anticipate many requests will require the study team to investigate technical and policy feasibility. For example, a request that next of kin be able to have full access to an account may not be supported by that platform, requiring the study team to consider workarounds and their viability over time. The study team will ideate on a variety of possible solutions, presenting viable options to participants. For each request, the study team will document the details including challenges to fulfilling the request, possible solutions, and the fragility of those solutions should there be changes over time to technology (e.g., passwords being replaced by 2-factor authentication) or social circumstances (e.g., an individual's willingness to perform a specific action). This documentation will both help aid the participant in making choices, while also allowing the study team to holistically identify common shortcomings in technology design related to post-mortem planning. Based on the articulated requests, the study team will develop and present a set of draft plans to the participant and their network and discuss the merits of each and potential trade-offs. The study team will then support the participant and network as a plan is selected, soliciting feedback from the participants about each option.

Next, participants and the participants' networks will need to perform some amount of work to make preparations and support the plan (e.g., collecting usernames and passwords, adding instructions to a will, setting up a Legacy Contact on Facebook or a designated contact on google). The study team will support the participant through this process, taking note of tasks that are confusing, technically difficult or impossible, or especially laborious. Engagement during this process will allow participants to make the best possible preparation, while allowing the study team to note problems that should be addressed in our Stage 1 and 2 processes, the specific participant's plan, or with post-mortem technology more broadly.

After having completed post-mortem preparations, the study team will continue to support participants with changes the participant may wish to make to the plan as social and technical circumstances evolve. The study team will check in with participants at regular intervals based on their preferences and guidance from their oncologist. Additionally, participants can contact the study team at any time with questions or to request help.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Life-limited adults diagnosed with metastatic cancer who have online accounts and data.
* Adult family/loved ones of the diagnosed adult who are willing to participate in planning activities.

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Primary outcomes:
measure: Determine best practices for supporting participants
timeFrame: 5 years
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Aurora
country: United States
facility: University of Colorado Health
state: Colorado
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Colorado, Boulder
name: Jed Brubaker
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: