The ACTIVE Intervention to Improve Hospice Care
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 446
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Caregiver Perceptions of Pain Medicine Questionaire
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The ACTIVE Intervention to Improve Hospice Caregiver Pain Management The major goal of this project is to implement and test this promising intervention in three hospice programs. The mixed methods evaluation of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) will provide evidence-based data for a tested intervention manual that hospice staff members can use to integrate the intervention into their practices.
Detailed Description
The ACTIVE Intervention to Improve Hospice Caregiver Pain Management The major goal of this project is to implement and test this promising intervention in three hospice programs. The mixed methods evaluation of this RCT will provide evidence-based data for a tested intervention manual that hospice staff members can use to integrate the intervention into their practices. We will rigorously test the effectiveness of the ACTIVE intervention. We will investigate whether the assessment of the informal caregivers perception of pain management will identify those who will benefit most and whether changes in the perceptions of informal caregivers will result in improvement of patient pain. We will explore barriers and challenges in the implementation of this into every day practice within hospice
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Supportive Care
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Sex
- Female
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •Informal Caregiver Inclusion Criteria
- •Informal caregiver of an enrolled hospice patient
- •Age 18 or over and legally able to provide informed consent
- •Involved in decisions related to pain medications
- •Access to at least one of the below:
- •A standard land line telephone
- •A high-speed Internet connection with operational computer
- •Without functional hearing loss or with a hearing aid that allows the participant to conduct phone or Internet conversations as assessed by the research staff (by questioning and observation
Exclusion Criteria
- •Informal caregivers of hospice patients with a life expectancy less than 14 days as assessed by the hospice nurse with the palliative performance scale (PPS) (99)
Arms & Interventions
Usual Care
Usual hospice care- there is no intervention in this arm
ACTIVE
Behavioral intervention using web conferencing
Intervention: ACTIVE (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Caregiver Perceptions of Pain Medicine Questionaire
Time Frame: Every 14 days until the death of the patient for an average of 45 days-Only measure used in analysis is the last completed measure
This 16 question instrument measures the perceptions hospice caregivers have toward the administration of pain medications. Scores on items vary from 1-5 with the lower scores indicating more problematic perceptions of pain management. A Total score is computed between 16-80 Only the last available measure will be used to reflect the measure closest to time of death.
Secondary Outcomes
- Anxiety(Every 14 days until the death of the patient for an average of 45 days-Only measure used in analysis is the last completed measure)
- Caregiver Quality of Life-Revised Subscale Emotional(Every 14 days until the death of the patient for an average of 45 days-Only measure used in analysis is the last completed measure)
Investigators
Debra Parker Oliver
Principle Investigator
Washington University School of Medicine