Efficacy of a Proactive Approach to Death Thoughts in People with Advanced Cancer

Launched by UNIVERSITAT INTERNACIONAL DE CATALUNYA · May 14, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help people with advanced cancer who may be struggling with thoughts about death. The goal is to see if a proactive approach, called Go-TAD (Give the Opportunity to Talk about Death), can improve emotional well-being and quality of life compared to the usual care, which is more reactive. Participants in the trial will be divided into two groups: one will receive the Go-TAD intervention during a medical visit, while the other group will receive standard care. The researchers will assess how these approaches affect feelings of distress, hopelessness, and the relationship between patients and their doctors.

To be eligible for this trial, participants must be adults over 18 with advanced cancer, able to have a conversation, and in a certain range of functionality (assessed by a scale). Patients who are currently experiencing severe symptoms or cognitive issues that would affect their ability to participate will not be included. After the intervention, researchers will follow up within a few days to evaluate the outcomes, and they will also gather detailed experiences from those who received the intervention to better understand its impact.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• The inclusion criteria will be:
• • 1. patients with advanced cancer defined according to ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) criteria referred for the initial palliative care (PC) consultation.
• • 2. age over 18 years
• • 3. ECOG 0-3 (functionality status)
• • 4. outpatients and inpatients
• • 5. patients who can sign the informed consent
• • 6. patients with the ability to maintain a conversation
• The exclusion criteria will be:
• • 1. patients with acute symptoms that may affect their consciousness.
• • 2. patients with any uncontrolled symptoms that prevent collaboration in the study assessed according to clinical judgment
• • 3. moderate or severe cognitive impairment assessed according to clinical judgment
• • 4. patients included in another incompatible clinical trial