CHESS Caregivers Study: Web-based Support for Informal Caregivers in Cancer

Summary

Web-Based Support for Informal Caregivers in Cancer Brief Summary (including hypothesis):

Informal caregivers need information, skills and emotional support to address physical, spiritual, and emotional needs associated with chronic illnesses including late stage cancer. Unfortunately, current conditions force clinicians to reduce their interaction time with patients and informal caregivers. Complimentary methods must be developed to provide needed information and support to caregivers. The proposed research will measure and explain the impact of two computer-based support systems that meet caregiver needs and facilitate information exchange with clinicians. The system, CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) is a non-commercial computer system that provides patients with disease specific information, emotional support and skill building tools. In the expanded form to be tested in this study, CHESS with Caregiver Support (CGCHESS) will also provide the caregiver with more information, support and skills training related to palliative care. CGCHESS will be further enhanced to communicate essential patient and caregiver information to clinicians prior to a scheduled clinic visit and when patient symptoms exceed a threshold.

The investigators' primary hypothesis is that CGCHESS + Clinician Report (CR) will reduce caregiver burden more than CGCHESS because of the additional support caregivers and patients receive from clinicians who have access to the CHESS clinician report. Secondary analyses will study the mechanisms of the CHESS effect. Specifically the investigators anticipate that the CHESS effect on caregivers will be mediated by the CHESS effect on interaction patterns with clinicians, satisfaction with clinical visits and by the CHESS effect on four patient outcomes (quality of life, negative affect, average severity of nine common late-stage cancers).

Conditions

• Breast Cancer
• Prostate Cancer

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System

Full CHESS

BEHAVIORAL

computer with internet

computer with internet use x 1 year

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Wisconsin, Madison

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• David Gustafson, PhD · University of Wisconsin, Madison

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2004-08-31

Primary Completion

2008-04-30

Completion

2008-04-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations