Legacy Intervention Family Enactment (LIFE)

Summary

The research activities funded through PAR "Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health" in grant R21NR011112 "Legacy Intervention Family Enactment (LIFE)" have been varied and highly successful. The LIFE project was designed with three primary objectives. Aim 1 was to assess the efficacy of LIFE as delivered by Retired Senior Volunteers (RSVs) on palliative care patients': (a) mood and emotional experience; (b) physical symptom burden; and (c) experience of meaning. Aim 2 was to assess the efficacy of LIFE as delivered by RSVs on one primary family caregiver's: (a) caregiving stress; (b) mood and emotional experience; and (c) experience of positive aspects of caregiving. Aim 3 was to assess the ability of RSVs to deliver LIFE effectively.

Although hospice and palliative care social workers frequently use reminiscence and creative activities with their patients 16, such interventions need to be more accessible to patients and families transitioning from community, hospital, and palliative care settings. If hospice or palliative care is not chosen as a treatment option, few means of delivering therapeutic reminiscence-based interventions exist. This represents a significant gap in practice and in the psychosocial palliative care intervention literature. Kazdin and Blase (2011) argue cogently that the community need for mental health services far outstrips the number of providers available to assist those in distress. They call strongly for new intervention delivery modes targeting prevention and treatment to alleviate suffering. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of retired senior volunteers (RSVs), who are available nationally through the National Senior Corp Program, to deliver a three-session reminiscence and creative activity intervention previously found effective in improving palliative care patient and caregiver outcomes (Allen, 2009; Allen, Hilgeman, Ege, Shuster, \& Burgio, 2008). We hypothesized that palliative care patients and their caregivers in the RSV-delivered intervention group would demonstrate improved emotional and spiritual functioning relative to a supportive contact control group. If successful, this mode of treatment delivery (e.g., RSV intervention) would represent a significant step toward translation and greater access at earlier disease stages of therapeutic psychosocial interventions for individuals near the end of life and their family members.

Conditions

• Pain
• Retention Disorders, Cognitive
• Other Chronic Illness
• Palliative Care

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

LIFE Intervention

RSVs received intensive training in the manualized intervention, including practice opportunities. The manual and accompanying workbook consist of instructions about using the steps of problem solving to decide on a period of life and creative activity project; constructing a project; evaluation of the activity; and additional questions. With the help of the RSV, dyads narrow the focus to one time period in the patients' life that could be adequately represented in one tangible project (scrapbook, audiotapes). The RSV and dyad brainstormed ways to portray the life story and then narrowed the focus to one meaningful project. The dyad gathered all necessary materials (such as pictures) and actively worked on completing a portion of the project between sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2009-06-30

Primary Completion

2011-12-31

Completion

2011-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations