Chaplain-Delivered Compassion Meditation to Improve Spiritual Care of Patients Receiving Stem Cell Transplantation

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Multiple Myeloma; Lymphoma
• Interventions: Other: Best Practice; Procedure: Spiritual Therapy

• Registration Number: NCT06328699
• Lead Sponsor: Emory University

Brief Summary

This clinical trial tests the feasibility, implementation and acceptability of chaplain delivered compassion meditation in order to improve spiritual care for patients receiving stem cell transplantation. Hospital chaplains play a vital role in delivering emotional and spiritual care to a broad range of both religious and non-religious patients for a wide variety of stressors, and extensive research indicates that spiritual consults impact patient outcomes and satisfaction. Compassion meditation is a secularized, research-based mindfulness and compassion meditation program designed to expand and strengthen compassion for self and others. Practices include training in attentional stability and increased emotional awareness, as well as targeted reflections to appreciate one's relationship with self and others. By centering the mind, controlling debilitating ruminative thoughts, and cultivating personal resiliency and an inclusive and more accurate understanding of others. Engaging in chaplain delivered compassion meditation may improve the spiritual care for patients receiving stem cell transplantation.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To examine the feasibility, adoption, extent of implementation, acceptability and fidelity of chaplain-delivered compassion-centered spiritual health (CCSH).

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients receive chaplain-led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions over 30 minutes, twice per week for up to 2 weeks.

ARM II: Patients receive a traditional chaplain consultation and care upon request, per standard of care.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 80-100 days and 6 months post treatment.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-10-30
• Study First Submitted: 2023-12-04
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-03-18
• Study First Posted: 2024-03-25
• Status Verified: 2024-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-08-23
• Last Update Posted: 2024-08-26
• Primary Completion: 2025-08-01
• Study Completion: 2026-11-15

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 50

Inclusion Criteria

• PATIENT: Within 6 weeks of scheduled hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)
• PATIENT: > 18 years of age
• PATIENT: Speak and read English
• CHAPLAIN: Emory Healthcare chaplain

Exclusion Criteria

• PATIENT: Patients will be excluded if they are cognitively impaired, on a ventilator, or are in a room requiring enteric precautions or airborne precautions (e.g., use of an N-95 mask requiring fit-testing) to enter
• CHAPLAIN: There will be no exclusion criteria and no consequence to the chaplains for refusing to volunteer

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Arm II (Traditional chaplain consultation)	Best Practice	Patients receive a traditional chaplain consultation and care upon request, per standard of care.
Arm I (Chaplain delivered compassion meditation)	Spiritual Therapy	Patients receive chaplain led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions over 30 minutes, twice per week for up to 2 weeks.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Feasibility - patient enrollment and treatment-specific retention rates	Up to 8 months	Will measure and characterize the proportion of eligible patient screens who enroll and treatment-specific retention rates.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient Characteristics Affecting Acceptability - Chaplain Satisfaction Survey	Up to 8 months	We will examine whether scores on the chaplain satisfaction survey vary based on patient sociodemographic variables (biological sex, race)
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant [FACT-BMT]	Up to 8 months	Impact of chaplain-delivered compassion-centered spiritual health on quality of life
Acceptability - Chaplain Satisfaction Survey	Up to 8 months	Will administer a post- chaplain-based compassion treatment (CBCT) intervention using chaplain satisfaction survey and will ask patients after each session if they would like to continue receiving CBCT sessions.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute; 🇺🇸 Atlanta, Georgia, United States