Study of Poetic Dignity Therapy for Sexual and Gender Minority Patients With Cancer

An Open Trial of a Novel Poetic Dignity Therapy Intervention to Enhance Meaning and Purpose for Sexual and Gender Minority Patients With Cancer

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT06293456

Enrollment

Registered

2024-03-05

Start date

2024-01-29

Completion date

2027-01-01

Last updated

2026-09-08

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

Conditions

End of Life

Keywords

Dignity Therapy (DT), End of Life (EOL)

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to find out if dignity therapy is practical and works well for sexual and gender minority (SGM) patients in MSK. SGM includes, but is not limited to, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+). Dignity therapy is a type of psychotherapy where the clinician asks the patient questions to allow the patient to express their individual life story and ultimately be able to create a legacy document of their experiences that can be shared with their loved ones.

Interventions

OTHERDignity Therapy

A trained research staff member will conduct the DT interview virtually. The interview will occur or by phone only if the participant lacks access to technology for videoconferencing. The interviewer asks a series of open-ended questions that encourages patients to talk about their lives and what matters most to them.

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* SGM (as per self-report) palliative care patients identified through Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Palliative Care team and primary solid tumor oncology clinics. * Age 18 and older (as per self-report/EHR) * English-speaking as per the English language assessment items below and wil ing to receive the intervention in English. o What is the participant's preferred language? * (Specify Lang)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ * How well does the participant speak English? * Very well (PARTICIPANT IS ELIGIBLE) * Well (PARTICIPANT is ELIGIBLE) * Not well (PARTICIPANT is NOT ELIGIBLE) * Not at all (PARTICIPANT is NOT ELIGIBLE)

Exclusion criteria

* Delirium/ altered mental status prohibitive of providing consent.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
the number of patients who complete the intervention	1 year	This requires meeting both of the following criteria: i) collection of the DT Interview for 30 patients; and ii) delivery of the poem to at least 22 (\>75%) participants.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORWilliam E Rosa, Ph.D., MBE, NP

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Sep 9, 2026