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Brief Hypnosis Intervention for Palliative Care Patients and Their Relatives.

HypnoPal : a Mixed Method Study of a Home Based Hypnosis Intervention for Palliative Care Patients and Their Relatives

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05300126
Acronym
HypnoPal
Enrollment
50
Registered
2022-03-29
Start date
2022-02-14
Completion date
2022-12-30
Last updated
2024-02-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Home, Hypnosis, Palliative Care

Brief summary

The study objective is to assess the feasibility of hypnosis sessions for palliative care patients in home care and of their relatives. The intervention consists of four 15-minute hypnosis sessions for the patients and for one family member, taking place at the patient's home. Recordings will be given to practice self-hypnosis.

Detailed description

The primary outcome of this study is to assess the feasibility of a home based hypnosis intervention, targeting the management of symptoms (e.g. pain, anxiety) of palliative care patients and the reinforcement of a positive skill for their relatives (e.g. acceptance, relaxation), as well as the development of their respective self-hypnosis practice. The two secondary outcomes are: i) to understand what the needs of palliative care patients and their relatives are in relation to complementary medicine and ii) to understand the process of integration of complementary medicine into usual care by looking at how this takes place for the participants to the intervention as well as for other palliative care patients who resort to using complementary medicine (not limited to hypnosis). This is a mixed-methods study combining quantitative and qualitative data in a convergent design. The convergent design, derived from the pragmatic paradigm, involves the independent collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The results are then merged in order to compare and/or combine them and thus provide a broader understanding of the issue being studied. For the intervention, participants will be recruited by a community mobile palliative care team. They will be screened by the study team to ensure they fulfil the inclusion criteria. If eligible and after informed consent is obtained, an assessment of the cognitive function will be performed. The patients will then recruit one of their relatives for participation to the study. For the secondary outcomes, participants will be healthcare professionals working in palliative care setting and using complementary medicine in their daily practice and also patients using complementary medicine but who do not participate at the interventional part of this study.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALHypnosis

Four sessions of 15 minute hypnosis, based on standardised script, focused on symptom management for the patients and of resource development for relatives.

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

: * adults ≥18 years * followed by a mobile palliative care team * expressed symptom such as: pain, dyspnea, sleep disturbance or anxiety at a score of ≥ 3/10 at inclusion * interest in managing symptoms with hypnosis

Exclusion criteria

: * inability to communicate in French without a translator * severe cognitive impairment * severe hearing impairment * acute psychiatric or somatic decompensation.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Satisfaction and needs assessed by semi structured interview4 weeksTo globally understand the experience of the hypnosis intervention
Expectations of hypnosis in terms of personal benefits assessed by VASChange from baseline hypnosis expectations at 4 weeksMeasured at Baseline - Question: how well do you expect this treatment to work for you (VAS: 0: no effect at all to 10: full relief)
Acceptance rate of the intervention assessed by descriptive numeric data1 yearHow many times the intervention was proposed and how many patients and relatives were interested in and had participated
Number of sessions carried out and their duration assessed by descriptive numeric data1 yearFor each patient and relatives the number of sessions and duration of each session is collected
Symptom intensity assessed by Edmonton Symptom Assessment SystemChange from symptom intensity at 4 weeksNine symptoms are assessed by VAS: 0: no symptom at all to 10: maximal intensity
Quality of life assessed by VASChange from baseline quality of life at 4 weeksThe global quality of life is assessed by VAS 0: minimal to 10: maximal
Comfort assessed by VASChange from baseline comfort at 4 weeksThe global comfort is assessed by VAS 0: minimal to 10: maximal
The main symptom intensity assessed by VAS15 minutesThe main symptom present before the hypnosis session is assessed by VAS: 0: no symptom at all to 10: maximal intensity

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Needs and integration assessed by semi structured interviewthrough study completion, an average of 1 yearTo assess the needs of this specific population regarding the integrative medicine and the integration of complementary medicine into routine care by interviewing professionals, patients and relatives

Countries

Switzerland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026