View clinical trials related to Informal Caregivers.
Filter by:To assess the feasibility and acceptability of expressive writing + problem solving therapy (EW+PST) among cancer survivors and informal caregivers
As the population of cancer survivors increases substantially, meeting the health care and psychosocial needs of this population has become a national priority. After treatment ends, cancer survivors still experience a range of physical and psychological symptoms that require management. The post-treatment period can present new challenges for many survivors as they encounter communication gaps in the transition from oncology to primary care, leaving unmet needs for information and management of lingering symptoms. The role of informal caregivers remains important during this post-treatment period and psychosocial interventions that meet the needs (e.g., information, symptom management) of both members of the dyad are highly valuable to caregivers and survivors. Many geographic and social determinants of health care use (e.g., distance to specialty care centers, available primary care providers, and public transportation) make access to care and adherence to recommended healthcare guidelines difficult for survivors and caregivers, especially those who reside in rural areas. Rural residents with cancer and their caregivers during the post-treatment period are underrepresented in symptom management research. To address the unmet needs (e.g., information, symptom management) of cancer survivors and their caregivers after cancer treatment, this team has developed, tested, and investigated two telephone delivered interventions for survivors and their caregivers: Symptom Management and Survivorship Handbook (SMSH) and Telephone Interpersonal Counseling (TIP-C).
Today, 40% of cancers are linked to modifiable risk factors and could thus be preventable. Primary prevention, which allows individuals to be informed and aware of health recommendations and possible actions before the onset of a cancer, is thus a major public health issue. Around 11 million of French citizens are informal caregivers, i.e. people who regularly and frequently provide a non-professional help to do all or part of daily life activities for a dependent person with a disability, disease, or due to age. In cancer, there are around 5 million of informal caregivers in France. Studies have shown that informal caregivers of cancer patients are not only at risk for stress, anxiety, poor health, diminished quality of life, but also that they adopt so-called "risk behaviours" (e.g., increased smoking or alcohol consumption, unbalanced eating habits rich in fat, sugar and ultra-processed foods, sedentary lifestyle, etc.). These behaviours may develop or worsen co-morbidities and/or promote cancer development, outside hereditary context. Moreover, for certain types of cancer, related and unrelated family caregivers have a higher risk of developing cancer because they share the same lifestyle including the same risk factors. However, compared to general population, informal caregivers of cancer patients, have an increased risk perception and motivation to change a so-called unhealthy lifestyle. In this context, our goal is to test the feasibility and acceptability of a personalised primary prevention intervention designed to informal caregivers of cancer patients at increased risk of cancer. The intervention will be first designed to first-degree relatives and partners/spouses of a patient treated at Léon Bérard Center. Developed in the Léon Bérard comprehensive cancer centre in close relation with outpatient care and based on an informal caregiver's tracking questionnaire, the intervention will be composed of two consultations with a physician trained in primary prevention and information and referral to health prevention structures. As primary objectives, acceptability will be assessed based on informal caregivers' satisfaction and feasibility based on their participation rates. As secondary objectives, informal caregivers' knowledge and risk perception will be assessed based on questionnaires and intention to change or change behaviour will be noted and analysed through individual semi-structured interviews.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a dyadic pain management program (DPM) in reducing pain and psychological health symptoms, improving pain self-efficacy, quality of life, and physical function in older adults. Hypothesis: DPM is more effective in reducing pain and psychological health symptoms, improving pain self-efficacy, quality of life, and physical function among older adults than the usual care, upon completion of the DPM (week 8) and over time (week 16). Design and subjects: Clustered randomized controlled trial with neighborhood elderly centers (NEC) as cluster; 150 dyads (one older adults and his/her caregiver as one dyad) will be recruited from 22 NEC clusters. Each NEC will be randomly allocated to experimental group (receive DPM), control group (receive usual care and pain management pamphlet). Study instruments: Brief Pain Inventory; Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire; Short Form Health Survey-12; Depression, anxiety & stress; Caregiver Burden Inventory; 6-minute walk test and process evaluation. Intervention: DPM, each session includes exercise, interactive pain management education, practices on non-drug techniques and using a WhatsApp (WhatsApp Messenger) group to encourage home-based exercise and practice of non-drug methods. Outcome measures: Pain intensity, pain self-efficacy, perceived health-related quality of life and experience in participating DPM, to be collected at baseline (T0), week 8 (T1), and week 16 (T2). Data analysis: Multilevel regression and/or Generalized Estimating Equation will be used for within-group and between- group comparisons.