With Love: Using Promotoras for a Hispanic Community Palliative Care Promotora Palliative Care

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Despite being strongly recommended, the integration of palliative care in oncology has not been widely adopted. Very few people have access to comprehensive palliative care. Access is even lower in rural and Hispanic communities. Even in communities with access, uptake is often low due to a lack of education on the part of both patients and providers regarding palliative care. This study aims to use an innovative approach to provide quality palliative care to oncology Hispanic patients by using community health workers also known as promotoras.

Detailed Description: Palliative care has been highly recommended to be an integral part of oncology yet very few people have access to comprehensive palliative care. Access is even lower in rural, low socio-economic and Hispanic communities. Palliative care has been shown to decrease healthcare costs. This study will use an innovative approach to provide quality palliative care to gynecology-oncology Hispanic patients by using community health workers also known as promotoras. The promotora model has been shown to be successful in several behavioral modification programs. The investigators aim to use promotoras to deliver a comprehensive and culturally sensitive educational intervention that covers self-care in the presence of cancer, advance directives, pain management, and care taker awareness. The goal of the intervention will be to decrease number of emergency department visits and hospital admissions of patients with advanced cancer, and increase the rate of completion of advanced directives, as well as improve overall quality of life (as measured by standardized scales) when comparing the intervention group vs. the control (usual care) group. The investigators will additionally assess the cost effectiveness of this intervention.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Must be 18 years or older
Must be a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) or University Medical Center (UMC) El Paso patient
Must be Hispanic
Must have a cancer diagnosis

Exclusion Criteria

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9)	The PHQ-9 was administered at baseline and then again about six weeks later when study participation is completed..	Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9); the score can range from 0 - 27; the lower score indicates a better outcome
Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Palliative Care (FACIT-Pal)	The FACIT-Pal was administered at baseline and then again about six weeks later when study participation is completed.	Functional Assessment Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Palliative care (Pal), score range 0-184, a higher score means a better outcome.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Intensive Care Unit Admissions	six weeks after enrollment	Frequency of visits will be analyzed as an intent-to-treat analysis
Emergency Department Visits	six weeks after enrollment	Frequency of visits will be analyzed as an intent-to-treat analysis

Locations (1): Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
🇺🇸
El Paso, Texas, United States
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
🇺🇸El Paso, Texas, United States