Emotion and Symptom-Focused Engagement (EASE) for Caregivers

Launched by UNIVERSITY HEALTH NETWORK, TORONTO · Apr 15, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial, called Emotion and Symptom-Focused Engagement (EASE), is designed to help parents who are caring for a child or teenager with cancer. The main goal is to see if a special program called EASE, combined with regular care, can help reduce stress and emotional difficulties in these parents over six months. Researchers will compare the experiences of parents who participate in EASE with those who only receive usual care to find out if it makes a difference in their wellbeing.

To be eligible for this trial, you need to be the main caregiver of a child under 18 who has been diagnosed with a serious cancer within the last six months and is currently receiving treatment. You must be at least 18 years old and able to communicate in English, although it doesn’t have to be your first language. If you join, you will fill out some questionnaires about your feelings and experiences at the start and then again at several points over the next six months. There’s also an option to take part in interviews to share more about your experience. It’s important to know that not everyone can participate, especially if you are currently in therapy for emotional issues or if your child’s health situation is very critical.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Self-identified primary family caregiver/guardian (i.e., parent assuming the majority of care activities) of a child: i) \<18yo; ii) diagnosed with a new or relapsed life-threatening cancer within the preceding six months (disease-type eligibility per the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario Networked Information System); and iii) receiving active cancer therapy;
• • Age ≥18 years; and,
• • Able to complete outcome measures and engage in EASE in English, which need not be their first language.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Impairment in cognitive functioning or communication that would preclude participation in EASE sessions or outcome measure completion, as determined by the research team;
• • Receiving formal ongoing psychotherapy at the time of recruitment;
• • Active suicidal intention, based on an item in the Distress Assessment and Response Tool (DART) that has been widely used in suicidal intention screening in cancer; or,
• • Child not expected to survive past the duration of trial, as determined by the child's medical team.