None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Research design: This will be conducted as a mixed methods study within the psychosocial outpatient clinic setting where patients are seen together by the Nurse Practitioner and Social Worker and then separated so that the patient is seen by the psychosocial nurse alone and the caregiver is seen by the Caregiver Network Facilitator alone. The Caregiver Network Facilitator is a relatively new role introduced into the palliative care team as a support role to assist family caregivers to mobilise their own social networks. Methods: Tape recorded interviews of patients and their caregivers seen both together and separately will be transcribed verbatim, and the content coded to quantify communication variables. The coding will identify the use of open and closed questions, cues that are ignored, who is dominating the conversation and any crying that takes place. Coding will be conducted by the chief investigator with one other investigator coding some of the transcripts to ensure coding reliability. A grounded theory approach is utilised for the qualitative component of the study, as it involves the reading of transcripts, identifying possible themes, comparing and contrasting themes and building theoretical models. NVivo software will be utilised to analyse the qualitative component of the study.
Interventions
The study will be conducted within the routine early assessment clinic at GP Plus Marion. Patients are asked to allow 2 hours for this clinic but each clinician works to a 30 minute assessment schedule. The intervention for this study is the tape recording of the sessions as outlined below.
The patient accompanied by their caregiver is first assessed by the Nurse Practitioner for a 30 minute physical assessment. The patient and caregiver are then seen together by the social worker for a 30 minut
The study will be conducted within the routine early assessment clinic at GP Plus Marion. Patients are asked to allow 2 hours for this clinic but each clinician works to a 30 minute assessment schedule. The intervention for this study is the tape recording of the sessions as outlined below. The patient accompanied by their caregiver is first assessed by the Nurse Practitioner for a 30 minute physical assessment. The patient and caregiver are then seen together by the social worker for a 30 minute assessment of social needs. After the social work assessment the patient is assessed alone by the psychosocial nurse for coping and adjustment to illness while the caregiver is assessed alone by the Caregiver Network Facilitator. These individual assessments take 30 minutes. The whole clinic assessment should not take any longer than 90 minutes.
Sponsors
Repatriation General Hospital
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
> 18 years of age Eligible to attend the psychosocial palliative care clinic (in that they have a high performance status and can manage a 90 minute appointment.) Communicate in English
Exclusion criteria
Cognitive impairment with a mini mental state <22 for the patient or caregiver Palliative care clients choosing not to provide consent Patients attending the clinic without a family caregiver.
Outcome results
None listed