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End-of-Life Conversation Tools for Advance Care Planning

N/A

Recruiting

Led By Lauren J. Van Scoy, MD

Research Sponsored by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be older than 18 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up 6 months post-intervention

Summary

This trial will test whether existing social networks can be used to help underserved people have conversations about end-of-life care and make plans accordingly.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for adults over 18 from underserved communities who can speak and read English or Spanish. They should not have completed an advance directive in the past 5 years. Community hosts must be able to gather 20 individuals, have experience with events and working with these populations, plus complete mandatory training.

What is being tested?

The study tests two tools: 'Hello', a serious game, and The Conversation Project Starter Kit against a general conversation game to engage people in end-of-life discussions and motivate them to plan their care preferences ahead of time.

What are the potential side effects?

Since this trial involves conversation-based tools rather than medical interventions, traditional side effects are not applicable. However, participants may experience emotional discomfort discussing end-of-life issues.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ 6 months post-intervention

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~6 months post-intervention

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 6 months post-intervention for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Rates of Completion of a Visually Verified Advance Directive

Secondary study objectives

Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey

Rates of Other Advance Care Planning (ACP) behaviors

Other study objectives

Acceptability of Intervention Measure

Communication Quality Analysis (CQA) Measure

Conversation Satisfaction Questionnaire

+6 more

Trial Design

3Treatment groups

Active Control

Placebo Group

Group I: Group 1:Advance care planning conversation game, 'Hello'Active Control1 Intervention

The 'Hello' game is a commercially available serious game that consists of 32 questions prompting players to share their values, goals, and beliefs about end-of-life issues. The game is played with 4 - 5 players, with each receiving a game booklet and chips. A play reads the first question in the book. Then each player writes down their answers individually and takes turns sharing their answers with the group. Players control what they share, how long they share and when to move to the next questions. During the conversation, plays can acknowledge others for a thoughtful, poignant or even funny comments by giving them a chip. A pre-game coin flip determines whether the player with the most chips wins the game (heads) or player with the least chips win (tails) the game. Other names; previously name "My Gift of Grace"

Group II: Group 2: The Conversation Project (CP) Starter KitActive Control1 Intervention

The 'CP Starter Kit' (available for free online) is an 11-page workbook with open- ended prompts to consider one's values and preferences for end-of-life care, who to talk with about one's wishes, and suggestions on how to do so.

Group III: Group 3: Control Arm (Placebo control game, 'Table Topics')Placebo Group1 Intervention

A placebo/attention control l conversation game called 'Table Topics' will be used. Table Topics is a general conversation starter game that is unrelated to advance care planning. It involves answering open-ended questions in a group setting about a variety of topics.

Do I qualify?Apply below to find out