Web-based Support for Family Caregivers of Patients With Advanced Cancer

Not Applicable

Active, not recruiting

• Conditions: Family; Cancer Metastatic; End of Life; Chronic Illness
• Interventions: Other: Narstaende.se

• Registration Number: NCT05785494
• Lead Sponsor: Ersta Sköndal University College

Brief Summary

For family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer, preparedness for caregiving is crucial for maintaining health and quality of life both during care and after the death of the patient. This project contributes to earlier research funded by the Swedish Cancer Society, about an intervention that was delivered by a multi-professional team and proved to be successful in promoting preparedness. However, such interventions are often costly and logistically challenging. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has further significantly raised the need for digital alternatives in healthcare. As a possible solution, an evidence-based intervention, narstaende.se, has been developed consisting of recorded videos of conversations between clinicians and family caregivers (actors), linked to informational texts and a moderated chat forum. The intervention was pilot tested during 2020 and 2021, exploring feasibility, content and family caregivers' experiences. As preliminary results are promising, the intervention is taken one step further and tested as a web-based intervention in a larger scale.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-09-01
• Study First Submitted: 2023-02-27
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-03-14
• Study First Posted: 2023-03-27
• Primary Completion: 2023-12-31
• Status Verified: 2024-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-08-14
• Last Update Posted: 2024-08-15
• Study Completion: 2026-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 204

Inclusion Criteria

• Being a family caregiver, over 18 years of age, to a person with life-threatening illness cared for in specialized home care.

Exclusion Criteria

• Not being able to communicate in Swedish

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention	Narstaende.se	Access to web-site

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Preparedness for caregiving	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	Preparedness for caregiving scale (PCS)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in post-loss grief	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	Prolonged Grief-13
Change in Quality of Life	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	The Quality of Life in Life-Threatening Illness Family caregiver version (QOLLTI-F)
Change in Anxiety and Depression	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
Change in health	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	RAND- 36
Change in pre-loss grief	At baseline (before intervention), change from baseline after 4-6 weeks (follow-up 1) and after 8-10 weeks (follow-up 2)	Prolonged Grief-12

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Marie Cederschiöld University; 🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden