Palliative Care
Conditions
Keywords
Palliative care, Despair, Spiritual well-being
Brief summary
This randomized, controlled trial evaluates the effectiveness of an adaptation of a well-established brief, structured existential psychotherapy (Meaning Centered Psychotherapy) specifically tailored to the needs of palliative care patients (MCP-PC). Terminally ill patients with cancer who have been hospitalized in a palliative care hospital will be randomly assigned to either MCP-PC or enhanced usual care. Patients will complete a very short battery of self-report measures before the 3-session intervention, and again 2 and 4 weeks later to determine whether treatment has bolstered spiritual and psychological well-being and improved quality of life.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMeaning Centered Psychotherapy
Manualized, 3-session existential psychotherapy (30-45 minutes/session) with an optional 4th booster session. Content focuses on enhancing patients sense of meaning and purpose in life.
Sponsors
Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY
Fordham University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Intervention model description
Randomized controlled trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
21 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Terminal illness with life expectancy of less than 6 months; hospitalized at a palliative care facility in Bronx NY, English speaking
Exclusion criteria
* Cognitive impairment or severe psychiatric symptoms that preclude informed consent or participation in treatment.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Spiritual Well Being | Through study completion (approx 6 weeks) | Overall spiritual well-being as measured through the self-report FACIT Spiritual Well Being scale |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hopelessness | Through study completion (approx 6 weeks) | Self-report rating scale, the Hopelessness Assessment in Illness scale |
| Acceptance of Death | Through study completion (approx 6 weeks) | Subscale derived from the Life Attitude Profile, a self-report measure of meaning and purpose |
| Health related Quality of life | Through study completion (approx 6 weeks) | Single item rating of overall quality of life derived from the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire |
| Desire for hastened death | Through study completion (approx 6 weeks) | Abbreviated version of the Schedule of Attitudes towards Hastened Death, a measure of desire for hastened death |
Contacts
Primary ContactBarry D Rosenfeld, PhD
Outcome results
None listed