Clinical trial NCT00922285: Art Therapy for Caregivers of Young Patients Undergoing Bone Marrow Transplant for Cancer
Official title: Art Therapy Interventions With Caregivers Supporting Pediatric Patients Who Are Undergoing Bone Marrow Transplantation for Cancer
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Health Status Unknown
Psychosocial Effects of Cancer and Its Treatment
Keywords: psychosocial effects of cancer and its treatment
health status unknown
Lead sponsor: City of Hope Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
First posted: 2009-06-17
Enrollment: 11
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: RATIONALE: Art therapy may help relieve emotional distress in caregivers of young patients undergoing bone marrow transplant for cancer.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying art therapy for caregivers of young patients undergoing bone marrow transplant for cancer.

Detailed description: OBJECTIVES:

* Test the effects of an art therapy intervention on emotional distress in caregivers of pediatric patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for cancer.
* Describe pro-social interactions of caregivers of pediatric patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for cancer.
* Describe the illness experience of caregivers and how it is impacted by the art therapy intervention.
* Describe the caregivers' current health-related quality of life and life meaning prior to pediatric patients initiation of bone marrow transplantation for cancer.
* Determine the effect size for calculating the sample needed for a randomized clinical trial.

OUTLINE: Caregivers undergo art therapy over 60 minutes once a week for 6 weeks. Each session comprises developing trust through the expression of support, affirmation, and collaboration; creating intimacy through attunement; exploring affective states; integrative processing through the creation of an autobiographical narrative; and identifying opportunities for continued exploration and resources that support the client, should that exploration become necessary.

Caregivers also complete a Meaning of Life Questionnaire and a Family Quality of Life Scale at baseline and at the end of week 6.

Eligibility criteria: DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Family caregiver identified by the patient's physician as most involved in the patient care including, but not limited to, the following:

  * Mother
  * Father
  * Grandmother
  * Grandfather
  * Aunt
  * Uncle
  * Older sibling
* One caregiver per pediatric patient
* No caregivers who are part of an institutional system and are temporarily fulfilling the custodial role of the patient (i.e., foster parents)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* Able to speak and read English and/or Spanish
* No uncontrolled mental health and/or physical condition

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* Not specified

Primary outcomes:
measure: Emotional distress
timeFrame: Baseline, week 1 and week 6 of art therapy
measure: Pro-social interactions
timeFrame: Baseline, week 1 and week 6 of art therapy
measure: Illness experience of caregivers and how it is impacted by the art therapy intervention
timeFrame: Baseline, week 1 and week 6 of art therapy
measure: Caregivers' current health-related quality of life and life meaning
timeFrame: Baseline, week 1 and week 6 of art therapy
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Duarte
country: United States
facility: City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
name: Kate Kravits, RN, MA
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: