Nueva Vida Intervention for Latina Breast Cancer Survivors and Caregivers

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Breast Cancer
Quality of Life

Interventions: Behavioral: Nueva Vida Intervention

Registration Number: NCT02222337

Lead Sponsor: Georgetown University

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).

What is Involved in Study Participation? Latina survivors and their caregivers will be assigned by chance (randomized) to either the Nueva Vida Intervention or to usual care. Survivors and caregivers assigned to usual care can take part in any and all of the services provided at one of the four community-based organizations who are study partners. Both survivors and caregivers will complete informed consent forms and telephone surveys at the beginning of the study, about 4 months later, and again 6 months later. Survivors and caregivers receive gift cards in appreciation of their time for completing the surveys.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 272

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).

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Nueva Vida Intervention	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.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PROMIS Physical Functioning	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	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	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	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	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 Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Communication - Survivors Only - Patient Satisfaction With Care (PSQ-18 Communication Subscale)	6-months	Communication with providers in terms of overall satisfaction with communication. Range for subscale is 1-5; higher scores indicate higher communication satisfaction.
Self-Efficacy - Survivors Only - Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI)	6 Months	Self-efficacy; cancer survivors' confidence in coping with cancer and its treatment
Satisfaction With Care - Survivors Only - Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHOS-NHL)	6-months	Satisfaction with health care received by the breast cancer survivor from her oncology health care providers or general health care providers

Trial Locations

Locations (4): Latinas Contra Cancer
🇺🇸
San Jose, California, United States
Gilda's Club New York City
🇺🇸
New York, New York, United States
SHARE
🇺🇸
New York, New York, United States
Nueva Vida
🇺🇸
Washington, District of Columbia, United States