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Sponsors and Collaborators: |
University of Aarhus Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus The Specialist Palliative Care Team, Dept. of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital |
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Information provided by: | University of Aarhus |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00594971 |
Background:
Approximately one third of all deaths in Denmark are caused by cancer. Both Danish and international research shows that the majority of terminally ill cancer patients wish to die at home. In Denmark only about 25% has this wish fulfilled. The General Practitioner (GP) has traditionally had the full responsibility for the palliative care of terminally ill cancer patients. In recent years changes have been made to the organisation of palliative care: some hospitals have set up specialised palliative care teams and in some areas of Denmark hospices have been established.
Recent research defines a problem when it comes to communication between the hospital and general practice when the patient is being discharged. This is often done in a way that can cause the patient to feel "left in limbo", especially if it is not completely clear to the patient and his or her relatives who has the responsibility for the palliative care.
Objective:
270 terminally ill cancer patients will be invited to take part in the study. Data will be collected by interview with patients and questionnaires for patients, relatives and involved health care professionals.
Condition | Intervention |
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Palliative Care Neoplasms |
Other: Organisational intervention Other: Referral to a specialist palliative care team. |
Study Type: | Interventional |
Study Design: | Health Services Research, Randomized, Open Label, Factorial Assignment |
Official Title: | A Shared Care Approach for Seriously Ill Cancer Patients Between General Practice, Discharge Department and a Specialist Palliative Care Team |
Estimated Enrollment: | 270 |
Study Start Date: | April 2008 |
Estimated Study Completion Date: | November 2010 |
Estimated Primary Completion Date: | October 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) |
Arms | Assigned Interventions |
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B
90 terminally ill cancer patients will be referred to a specialist palliative care team at time of discharge.
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Other: Referral to a specialist palliative care team.
Discharge with referral to a specialist palliative care team. This is a patient-centred shared care model in which the palliative team helps to organise the patient's treatment and care.
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C
90 terminally ill cancer patients will be discharged from hospital with extra effort put into improving the communication between the hospital and the primary sector.
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Other: Organisational intervention
A shared care approach in which extra effort is put into improving the communication between the hospital and the primary sector.
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A: No Intervention
90 terminally ill cancer patients will be discharged from hospital, receiving usual care.
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The intervention in the study is of organisational character. The patients will be randomised into two groups (groups B and C). A group of usual care patients will be included primary to the intervention (group A). The groups are:
A. Usual discharge with regular discharge letter to the GP. The GP, together with the community nurse, is responsible for the palliative care, including referral to a specialist palliative care team, hospice, hospital, etc., if necessary
B. Discharge with referral to a specialist palliative care team. This is a patient-centred shared care model in which the palliative team helps to organise the patient's treatment and care
C. Discharge with extra effort put into improving the communication between the hospital and the GP. The GP will receive a phone call from the doctor who is discharging the patient, a detailed discharge letter, written information about the patient's type of cancer and acute oncological symptoms, name and phone number of the community nurse and name and phone number of a specialist in palliative medicine, who can be contacted for advice. This is a shared care model, where focus is on supporting the health care professionals.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years and older |
Genders Eligible for Study: | Both |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
In order to be included the patients have to be diagnosed as suffering from terminal cancer. The patients should also:
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients are excluded if they:
Contact: Trine Brogaard, MD | 0045+89426064 | trine.brogaard@alm.au.dk |
Contact: Anders Bonde Jensen, MD, PhD | 0045+89492542 | abjen@as.aaa.dk |
Denmark | |
Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University | Recruiting |
Aarhus, Denmark, 8000 | |
Contact: Trine Brogaard, MD 0045+89426064 trine.brogaard@alm.au.dk | |
Contact: Anders Bonde Jensen, MD, PhD 0045+89492542 abjen@aas.au.dk | |
Principal Investigator: Trine Brogaard, MD |
Study Director: | Frede Olesen, Professor | Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University |
Responsible Party: | Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus University ( Professor Frede Olesen ) |
Study ID Numbers: | 15273887, ISRCTN15273887 |
Study First Received: | January 7, 2008 |
Last Updated: | May 5, 2008 |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00594971 |
Health Authority: | Denmark: Danish Dataprotection Agency |
Health Services Research Family practice |
Neoplasms |