A Non-pharmacological Supportive Care Intervention for Patients With Lung Cancer and Their Caregivers in the Management of the Respiratory Distress Symptom Cluster.

OBJECTIVES:

• To consolidate knowledge of existing interventions and their characteristics.
• To seek patients', caregivers', and healthcare professionals' views on existing interventions and to establish whether these groups utilize any additional interventions not currently described in the literature.
• To explore patients' perspectives on interrelationships among symptoms, in terms of clusters or causal relationships.
• To identify patients', caregivers', and healthcare professionals' views of the desirable components/characteristics of a novel intervention.
• Explore what is 'usual care' in the context of the study.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

The management of cough and breathlessness in respiratory diseases and lung cancer is assessed through a narrative review of interventions to support caregivers in providing physical care to patients with cancer and explore qualitative patient symptom experience with a particular focus on identifying specific characteristics and components of interventions and identifying patients' and caregivers' explanations of how the respiratory symptom cluster relates to other symptom experiences (e.g., fatigue, depression, anxiety).

Patients and caregivers undergo 2-3 face-to-face interviews to assess views on existing interventions in terms of perceived effectiveness, acceptability, importance, and feasibility; to establish whether additional interventions (formal or self-initiated) are employed; to address patient and caregiver experiences of symptom interactions and clusters; and to fine tune the content of the planned intervention and identify any synergies between symptoms as discussed by patients. Healthcare professionals undergo similar assessments via focus groups.