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CancerNCT01695382

Apoyo Con Carino: Patient Navigation for Palliative Care

A study testing Navigation in people with Cancer, run by University of Colorado, Denver at 5 sites in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Palliative care is a priority area of focus for health care in an aging population experiencing burdens of chronic illness. Despite the evidence-based benefits of palliative care, access remains limited, especially in poor urban and rural settings. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 90 years
Conditions the study is for
Cancer
What is being tested?
Navigation
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
223 participants
Where
5 sitesUnited States
Study dates
Aug 2012to Dec 2016
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 90 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Stage III or Stage IV cancer (all types)
  • Self-identify as Latino
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Speak English or Spanish

Who cannot join

  • Lacking decisional capacity
  • Incarcerated

Trial locations and contacts

5 sites in 1 country.

5 sites in 1 country

United States5 sites
  • San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center

    Alamosa, Colorado, 81101

  • University of Colorado Cancer Center

    Aurora, Colorado, 80045

  • Denver Health and Hospital Authority

    Denver, Colorado, 80202

  • Shaw Cancer Center

    Eagle, Colorado, 81632

  • Valley View Medical Center

    Glenwood Springs, Colorado, 81601

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Apoyo Con Carino: Patient Navigation to Improve Palliative Care Outcomes for Latinos With Advanced Cancer

Palliative care is a priority area of focus for health care in an aging population experiencing burdens of chronic illness. Despite the evidence-based benefits of palliative care, access remains limited, especially in poor urban and rural settings. Cultural and linguistic barriers may also increase disparities in palliative care for Latinos. Due to a nationwide shortage of palliative care providers and the unique cultural preferences and values of patients, the investigators are testing a patient navigator intervention to improve palliative care outcomes for Latinos with advanced cancer.

Read the detailed description

This project uses a patient navigator to deliver a culturally tailored intervention to improve palliative care for Latinos with advanced cancer in urban and rural communities. The proposed research aims to improve palliative care with the goal of preventing and relieving suffering for people facing serious, complex illness. Palliative care, according to the National Quality Forum and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, provides patient and family-centered care offered in conjunction with curative and all other appropriate forms of medical treatment. It addresses physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual needs, and facilitates patients' understanding of illness and choice. There is emerging evidence that palliative care may also improve survival for cancer patients. The proposed research also focuses on reducing health disparities. Studies have shown that Latinos are more likely to die in a hospital, less likely to use hospice services, and more likely to have unmanaged pain. This study will recruit 240 Latino patients with advanced cancer from an urban safety net hospital, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and several rural communities (including some of the poorest, most underserved counties in Colorado). Patients will be randomized to either a control or intervention group. The control group will receive written materials covering three important palliative care domains -advance care planning, pain management, and hospice care. The materials, in English and Spanish, are appropriate for patients with low health literacy. Patients in the intervention group will receive the same written materials but will also have a patient navigator who will make 5 home visits to review materials, help patients and families talk about goals/values, and complete an advance directive, all in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. The navigator may also help with: accessing community resources, participating in family meetings with health care providers, and offering support to patients and families. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention will increase advance care planning, improve pain management, increase hospice referrals, and patients will have improved palliative care overall at the end of life. The patient navigator model has demonstrated an ability to improve cancer screening, early diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Once the investigators demonstrate the efficacy of a patient navigator intervention to improve palliative care for advanced cancer patients, they can disseminate the training and intervention to all patient navigators working with Latino cancer patients.

Conditions
Cancer
Being tested
Navigation
Keywords
Cancer, Palliative Care, Patient Navigation
Medical subject headings
Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • NavigationBehavioural

    As per Arm description

Study groups in NCT01695382
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
NavigationExperimentalParticipants randomized to the control arm of the study will receive a packet of written materials that are appropriate linguistically and written for individuals with low health literacy. In addition they will have 5 navigator initiated home visits to review the educational materials and help patients and families address barriers to palliative care through education, advocacy, and activation.
Receives: Behavioral: Navigation
ControlNo interventionParticipants randomized to the control arm of the study will receive a packet of written materials that are appropriate linguistically and written for individuals with low health literacy.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Improvement in Palliative Care Overall

    Patient Navigator and Process Measure will capture the less tangible benefits of a patient navigator and help understand the effects of the many activities of the navigator beyond the scope of the prescribed intervention. The questions incorporate aspects of self-efficacy and patient activation (key concepts that patient navigators help improve).

    Measured: 3 months after enrollment

  2. Evidence of Advance Care Planning

    Chart review to determine if there is an advance directive in the medical record and classification of the type of advance directive (Medical Durable Power of Attorney (MDPOA), Advance Directive (AD), Living Will)

    Measured: 6 months after enrollment

  3. Assesment of Pain Management

    Pain management will be assessed through patient interviews utilizing the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). The BPI Long Form (BPI-LF) is a 32-item self-report instrument that assesses the severity and impact of pain in patients with chronic diseases, e.g. cancer.

    Measured: 3 months after enrollment

  4. Hospice Utilization

    Length of stay in hospice program in days. Data will be collected through follow up phone calls, medical records review, and death records review to determine date of admission into hospice program and date of discharge (through death or dis-enrollment)

    Measured: 46 months after enrollment

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Aggressiveness of Care at the End of Life

    For patients who have died within the follow up period this outcome assesses aggressiveness of care at the end of life using a composite measure comprised of the following: chemotherapy within 14 days of death no hospice hospice within 3 days of death

    Measured: At month 46

  2. Change in Quality of Life

    McGill Quality of Life questionnaire (MQOL) will be used at baseline and at 3 months after enrollment. The MQOL is specifically designed for a palliative care population, measuring whole-person concerns magnified by advanced life-limiting illness. It is short, reliable, repeatable, and can be used to determine changes in QOL of groups.

    Measured: Baseline and 3 months after enrollment

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted28 Sep 2012 (estimated)
  2. Study startAug 2012
  3. Primary completionDec 2016
  4. Study completionDec 2016

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
223 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01695382
Sponsor's protocol ID
12-0592
Status last verified
Feb 2017
First submitted
25 Sep 2012
Last updated
3 Feb 2017
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Fischer SM, Kline DM, Min SJ, Okuyama-Sasaki S, Fink RM. Effect of Apoyo con Carino (Support With Caring) Trial of a Patient Navigator Intervention to Improve Palliative Care Outcomes for Latino Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2018 Dec 1;4(12):1736-1741. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.4014.

    PubMed 30326035
  • Fischer SM, Kline DM, Min SJ, Okuyama S, Fink RM. Apoyo con Carino: Strategies to Promote Recruiting, Enrolling, and Retaining Latinos in a Cancer Clinical Trial. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2017 Nov;15(11):1392-1399. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2017.7005.

    PubMed 29118231

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Navigation in people with Cancer, run by University of Colorado, Denver at 5 sites in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 3 Feb 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 5 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Improvement in Palliative Care Overall (time frame: 3 months after enrollment). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01695382, which also lists 2 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 3 Feb 2017.

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