A Finding Balance Writing Intervention for Older Bereaved Caregivers

Grief Clinical Trial

Official title:

Finding Balance: The Experience of Hope for Bereaved Caregivers of Palliative Cancer Patients

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01416779
• Other study ID #: 08-154
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 7, 2011
• Last updated: July 15, 2012
• Start date: February 2011
• Est. completion date: June 2012

Study information

• Verified date: July 2012
• Source: University of Saskatchewan
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Canada: Ethics Review Committee
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall purpose of this study is to develop and pilot-test a theory-based psychosocial supportive "finding balance" intervention for older, bereaved spousal caregivers of a palliative cancer patient.

Description:

Research devoted to determining the efficacy of bereavement interventions remains a top priority. The development of theory-based, acceptable and feasible psychosocial interventions would begin to address the needs of family caregivers. A prominent theory of coping with bereavement, Stroebe and Schut's Dual Process Model, describes oscillation between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented coping; having a balance between these processes predicted more positive outcomes for older bereaved spouses. Similarly, the process of "finding balance" emerged as a first step in the search for new hope in the PI's grounded theory research with older bereaved family caregivers. They described the importance and difficulty of "finding balance" as they recovered from caregiving and struggled to find a new meaning and purpose for their lives after the loss of a spouse to cancer. An intervention focused on "finding balance" provides an innovative and promising approach to guiding the development of a theory-based psychosocial intervention for family caregivers who become bereaved. In clinical work a highly focused writing intervention has shown important benefits (personal communication, Dr. Robert Neimeyer, March 4, 2009). A validated tool to measure the effectiveness of an intervention to find balance does not exist, however valid existing measures of hope, grief, and an inventory of balance based on the Dual Process Model will be used as proxies. Therefore, the overall purpose of this study is to develop and pilot-test a theory-based psychosocial supportive "finding balance" intervention for older, bereaved spousal caregivers of a palliative cancer patient.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 23
• Est. completion date: June 2012
• Est. primary completion date: June 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 60 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• women and men, ages 60 and over, who previously resided with and provided care for a spouse with terminal cancer who died within the last year, English speaking, and freely consenting to be involved in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• will be those cognitively impaired, non-autonomous, or not able to give a free and informed consent, as determined by the registered nurse research assistant on initial contact.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Subject), Primary Purpose: Supportive Care

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Grief

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Writing Intervention
Finding Balance Writing Intervention

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	University of Saskatchewan	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Saskatchewan	Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (1)

Holtslander LF, Bally JM, Steeves ML. Walking a fine line: an exploration of the experience of finding balance for older persons bereaved after caregiving for a spouse with advanced cancer. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2011 Jul;15(3):254-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2010.12.004. Epub 2011 Jan 17. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Grief	Herth Hope Index, Hogan Grief Scale, Inventory of Daily Widowed Life, Finding Balance Scale	2 weeks	No