A Feasibility Study of Death Education Intervention for Family Caregivers of Advanced Cancer Patients

Summary

Advanced cancer is the leading cause of death in the world and China. Family caregivers, as the closest individuals to advanced cancer patients, suffer from a range of psychological and spiritual issues due to patients' impending death. Various types of death education interventions have been developed to assist individuals in understanding the meaning of life and death and adapting to dying to address psychological and spiritual issues. However, these interventions have predominantly focused on advanced cancer patients only, with a significant gap in support for family caregivers.

A mixed methods feasibility study will be conducted. A convenience sample of at least 30 family caregivers will be recruited. Participants will receive four 60-minute sessions, flexibly scheduled within a four-week period according to each participant's conditions. The researcher will be trained to deliver the intervention through individual face-to-face sessions in the oncology ward meeting room of the same hospital in phase I. The primary outcome will be feasibility (time to complete the recruitment, eligibility rate, recruitment rate, retention rate, attendance rate, acceptability rate). Secondary outcomes will be measured for preliminary intervention effectiveness on family caregivers' communication with patients on death, anxiety, depression, spiritual well-being, attitudes towards death, and quality of life after collecting the demographic information and written consent forms, and post-intervention. A descriptive qualitative evaluation will be conducted with 12 family caregivers to explore their experience of participating in the intervention by another researcher. The qualitative data in phase II will be audio-taped and transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo 14 through thematic analysis. The quantitative data will be entered in SPSS version 29.0. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarise the profiles of participants and outcomes.

Conditions

• Palliative Care
• Advanced Cancer
• Family Caregivers

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Death education intervention for family caregivers of advanced cancer patients

The intervention consists of four 60-minute face-to-face sessions, scheduled flexibly within a four-week period based on each participant's condition and availability. The intervention will be delivered face-to-face, individually in the oncology ward meeting room. The intervention sessions will cover topics such as reviewing relationships with the patient, designing legacy products, recognising death-related emotions, and saying goodbye to the patient. The intervention materials include intervention manuals, play cards, and videos, which will be provided to support session activities.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University

  collaborator OTHER

• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Huilin Cheng, PhD · The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-03-01

Primary Completion

2026-07-01

Completion

2026-08-31

Countries

• China

Study Locations