Nueva Vida Intervention: Improving QOL in Latina Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Caregivers
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Georgetown University
- Enrollment
- 272
- Locations
- 6
- Primary Endpoint
- PROMIS Physical Functioning
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Latina breast cancer survivors report lower quality of life (QOL) than non-Latina survivors. Lower QOL can lead to poorer functional and cancer-related survival outcomes. The friends and family of Latina cancer patients are also impacted by a loved one's diagnosis of breast cancer. Through strong community-academic partnerships, the investigators seek to improve the QOL of Latina survivors and their caregivers with a culturally-relevant intervention. In this project, the investigators plan to further develop and refine the intervention and then test it through a randomized controlled trial. First, the investigators will conduct in-depth qualitative interviews with 10 survivor-caregiver dyads (pairs) to see if the intervention fits for survivors and caregivers in different parts of the country. Then, the investigators will revise the intervention. Finally, the investigators will test the intervention in a randomized controlled trial. The investigators will invite 125 survivor-caregiver dyads to be a part of our study. Half will be asked to complete the intervention and half will be offered the usual services, such as support groups. The information learned from this study could help improve the quality of life in Latina breast cancer survivors and their caregivers. Physicians, survivors, and community groups can also benefit from this study because they will have more information about the needs of Latina breast cancer survivors. The investigators hope to use the information to help other types of survivors and caregivers in the future.
Detailed Description
What is the Nueva Vida Intervention? The "Nueva Vida Intervention: Improving Quality of Life in Latina Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Caregivers" is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that was co-developed by a Latina breast cancer survivor who is trained as a mental health professional. The program was developed for Nueva Vida, a community-based organization (CBO) in the Washington, DC metropolitan area that serves Latina breast cancer survivors and their families. We are comparing the intervention to the usual services provided at our four partner community-based organizations.
How is the Nueva Vida Intervention Structured? The 8-session psycho-educational quality of life intervention includes group-based skill-building workshops in which Latina survivors and their caregivers are part of concurrently-held but separate groups (survivors in one room; caregivers in another). This separation meets the needs of Latino participants by encouraging them to freely share their experiences and feelings without worrying about upsetting the other person. Five of the eight sessions address core topics: Introduction and The Impact of Cancer on the Family, Stress Management, Improving Communication: Family, Friends, and Providers, Spirituality and Cancer, and Balancing Physical and Emotional Needs.
The remaining three sessions are selected by the intervention participants based on their own needs and interests from the following options: Anger Management, Intimacy after Cancer: Emotional and Sexual, Trauma and Cancer, Role Changes, Understanding Distress and Depression, Myths and Cancer, Including Others in Helping Caregivers, and Putting Our Lives in Order. At the end of the intervention everyone participates in a graduation ceremony.
How does the Nueva Vida Intervention Reflect Latino Values? The Nueva Vida intervention reflects Latino values, including personalismo (warm, personal relationships), familismo (emphasizing the family unit in managing a cancer diagnosis) and framing the sessions as workshops to avoid stigma associated with mental health care.
Where will the Nueva Vida Intervention Study take place? We will evaluate the Nueva Vida Intervention within a multi-site RCT at four community-based organizations in Washington, DC (Nueva Vida), New York, New York (SHARE, Gilda's Club New York City), and San Jose, California (Latinas Contra Cancer).
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Supportive Care
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- — to 85 Years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Survivors: Latina, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, speaks English or Spanish, has a Caregiver who is willing to participate.
- •Caregivers: a primary caregiver for a Latina breast cancer survivor, speak English or Spanish
Exclusion Criteria
- •Inability to understand spoken English and/or Spanish and/or
- •Cognitive impairment that precludes informed consent (determined by the PIs or Co-Investigators who are mental health professionals).
Arms & Interventions
Nueva Vida Intervention
Nueva Vida Intervention consists of 8 sessions of a skills-building group held twice a month for 4 months. Latina survivors and their caregivers arrive at the group together, separate into different rooms to learn the coping and communication skills, and then join together for discussion of the topic.
Intervention: Nueva Vida Intervention (Behavioral)
Usual Care
Usual care as provided by each of our 4 community-based organization partners. Usual care can include but is not limited to support groups, patient navigation, individual, couple or family therapy.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
PROMIS Physical Functioning
Time Frame: 6 months
Measure Quality of Life physical functioning; 6 items; Sum and then use IRT to standardize the score. Mean of 50; SD of 10. Range of the raw score = 6-28; A higher score = higher physical functioning
PROMIS Satisfaction With Social Roles
Time Frame: 6 months
Measure Quality of Life satisfaction with social roles domain; 6 items; Sum and then use IRT to standardize the score. Mean of 50; SD of 10; Range of the raw score = 6-30; A higher score = higher satisfaction with social roles
PROMIS Anxiety
Time Frame: 6 months
Quality of life: Anxiety; 6 items; Sum and then use IRT to standardize the score. Mean of 50; SD of 10. Range of the raw score = 6 to 30. A higher score = higher anxiety
PROMIS Depression
Time Frame: 6 months
Quality of life: depression; 6 items; Sum and then use IRT to standardize the score. Mean of 50; SD of 10. Range of the raw score = 6-30; A higher score = higher depression
PROMIS Fatigue
Time Frame: 6 months
Quality of life: fatigue; 4 items; Sum and then use IRT to standardize the score. Mean of 50; SD of 10. Range of the raw score = 4-20; A higher score = higher fatigue
Secondary Outcomes
- Communication - Survivors Only - Patient Satisfaction With Care (PSQ-18 Communication Subscale)(6-months)
- Self-Efficacy - Survivors Only - Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI)(6 Months)
- Satisfaction With Care - Survivors Only - Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHOS-NHL)(6-months)
Investigators
Kristi Graves, PhD
Associate Professor
Georgetown University