Examining Moderation of Dignity Therapy Effects by Symptom Burden or Religious/Spiritual Struggles.

Context: Dignity therapy (DT) is a well-researched psychotherapeutic intervention but it remains unclear whether symptom burden or religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles moderate DT outcomes.

Objective: To explore the effects of symptom burden and R/S struggles on DT outcomes.

Methods: This analysis was the secondary aim of a randomized controlled trial that employed a stepped-wedge design and included 579 participants with cancer, recruited from six sites across the United States.

Cost considerations for implementing dignity therapy in palliative care: Insights and implications.

Objectives: Despite the clinical use of dignity therapy (DT) to enhance end-of-life experiences and promote an increased sense of meaning and purpose, little is known about the cost in practice settings. The aim is to examine the costs of implementing DT, including transcriptions, editing of legacy document, and dignity-therapists' time for interviews/patient's validation.

Methods: Analysis of a prior six-site, randomized controlled trial with a stepped-wedge design and chaplains or nurses delivering the DT.

Death Anxiety and Correlates in Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care.

Death anxiety is powerful, potentially contributes to suffering, and yet has to date not been extensively studied in the context of palliative care. Availability of a validated Death Anxiety and Distress Scale (DADDS) opens the opportunity to better assess and redress death anxiety in serious illness. We explored death anxiety/distress for associations with physical and psychosocial factors.

Feasibility and Burden of Lay Caregivers Providing Daily Massages to Patients With Cancer Receiving Hospice and Palliative Care.

Professional massages reduce symptoms experienced by cancer patients, but are costly. A cost-effective way to include this therapy routinely in hospice care is to teach family caregivers to give massages as part of their caregiving activities. However, the burden on caregivers is unknown and might offset patient benefits or cost savings.

Dignity therapy intervention fidelity: a cross-sectional descriptive study with older adult outpatients with cancer.

Objectives: Intervention fidelity is imperative to ensure confidence in study results and intervention replication in research and clinical settings. Like many brief protocol psychotherapies, Dignity Therapy lacks sufficient evidence of intervention fidelity. To overcome this gap, our study purpose was to examine intervention fidelity among therapists trained with a systematized training protocol.

Description of a training protocol to improve research reproducibility for dignity therapy: an interview-based intervention.

Background: Dignity Therapy (DT) has been implemented over the past 20 years, but a detailed training protocol is not available to facilitate consistency of its implementation. Consistent training positively impacts intervention reproducibility.

Objective: The objective of this article is to describe a detailed method for DT therapist training.

Interim Analysis of Attrition Rates in Palliative Care Study on Dignity Therapy.

A routine threat to palliative care research is participants not completing studies. The purpose of this analysis was to quantify attrition rates mid-way through a palliative care study on Dignity Therapy and describe the reasons cited for attrition. Enrolled in the study were a total of 365 outpatients with cancer who were receiving outpatient specialty palliative care (mean age 66.

Reflections of Healthcare Experiences of African Americans With Sickle Cell Disease or Cancer: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The experiences of African American adult patients before, during, and after acute care utilization are not well characterized for individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) or cancer.

Objective: To describe the experiences of African Americans with SCD or cancer before, during, and after hospitalization for pain control.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study among African American participants with SCD (n = 15; 11 male; mean age, 32.

Patients and Caregivers Rate the PAINReportIt Wireless Internet-Enabled Tablet as a Method for Reporting Pain During End-of-Life Cancer Care.

Background: In several studies, investigators have successfully used an internet-enabled PAINReportIt tablet to allow patients to report their pain to clinicians in real-time, but it is unknown how acceptable this technology is to patients and caregivers when used in their homes.

Objective: The aims of this study were to examine computer use acceptability scores of patients with end-stage cancer in hospice and their caregivers and to compare the scores for differences by age, gender, race, and computer use experience.

Intervention/methods: Immediately after using the tablet, 234 hospice patients and 231 caregivers independently completed the Computer Acceptability Scale (maximum scores of 14 for patients and 9 for caregivers).