Symptom Management
Conditions
Keywords
palliative, starlight, end-of-life symptoms, non-pharmacological
Brief summary
Starlight Therapy™ has been shown to help alleviate end-of-life symptoms in Palliative Care patients and reduce the need for PRN or as needed medications. This study will investigate the efficacy of this intervention on the symptom of anxiety using a mixed-method analysis. The primary investigator hypothesizes that any anti-anxiolytic effects could be caused by the Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cell neural pathway to the amygdala.
Detailed description
Starlight Therapy has been shown (see citation) to help alleviate end-of-life symptoms in Palliative Care patients and reduce the need for PRN or as needed medications. This study will investigate the efficacy of this intervention using a mixed-method analysis. Starlight Therapy will be offered to patients with unpleasant end-of-life symptoms such as dyspnea, agitation, anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. The effect the Starlight Therapy has in helping alleviate these symptoms will be measured using the ESAS (Edmonton Symptom Assessment System) questionnaire at baseline and following a predetermined period of time of Starlight Therapy. 10 Starlight Projectors have been purchased for the unit where the study will take place: the Inpatient Palliative Care Unit 7A, Victoria General Hospital, Centennial Building. The funding was acquired by a Comfort & Care Grant from the QEII Foundation. The results will be compiled and analyzed in a research paper Concerning the Efficacy and Underlying Mechanism of Starlight Therapy as a Non-Pharmacological Nursing Intervention for Palliative Care Patients.
Interventions
OTHERStarlight Therapy
Starlight Projector will be placed in patients' rooms and project starlight on the ceilings and walls in an effort to reduce unpleasant symptoms
Sponsors
Nova Scotia Health Authority
Study design
Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
OTHER
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1\. ESAS indicates at least one of the following symptoms: * Insomnia * Anxiety * Restlessness * Dyspnea * Pain
Exclusion criteria
1. Clinical Diagnosis of blindness 2. ESAS does not include any of the flowing symptoms: * Insomnia * Anxiety * Restlessness * Dyspnea * Pain
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Using Starlight Therapy to measure Change in Unpleasant Symptoms in Palliative Care Patients as measured using the ESAS (Edmonton Symptom Assessment System) Scale. On a scale of 0-10, with 0 = no symptom and 10= symptom is worst outcome possible. | 2 hours of Starlight Therapy | Edmonton Assessment scale questionnaire will be completed before Starlight Therapy and after 2 hours. |
Countries
Canada
Contacts
Primary Contactshelley A sandblom, BA, BScN, RN
Outcome results
None listed