HypnoPal : a Mixed Method Study of a Home Based Hypnosis Intervention for Palliative Care Patients and Their Relatives

The primary outcome of this study is to assess the feasibility of a home based hypnosis intervention, targeting the management of symptoms (e.g. pain, anxiety) of palliative care patients and the reinforcement of a positive skill for their relatives (e.g. acceptance, relaxation), as well as the development of their respective self-hypnosis practice.

The two secondary outcomes are: i) to understand what the needs of palliative care patients and their relatives are in relation to complementary medicine and ii) to understand the process of integration of complementary medicine into usual care by looking at how this takes place for the participants to the intervention as well as for other palliative care patients who resort to using complementary medicine (not limited to hypnosis).

This is a mixed-methods study combining quantitative and qualitative data in a convergent design. The convergent design, derived from the pragmatic paradigm, involves the independent collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The results are then merged in order to compare and/or combine them and thus provide a broader understanding of the issue being studied.

For the intervention, participants will be recruited by a community mobile palliative care team. They will be screened by the study team to ensure they fulfil the inclusion criteria. If eligible and after informed consent is obtained, an assessment of the cognitive function will be performed. The patients will then recruit one of their relatives for participation to the study.

For the secondary outcomes, participants will be healthcare professionals working in palliative care setting and using complementary medicine in their daily practice and also patients using complementary medicine but who do not participate at the interventional part of this study.