PACT (V1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
PACT: Peer support to maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer. A feasibility study for a Randomised Controlled Trial (v1)
IRAS ID
180228
Contact name
Catherine Walshe
Contact email
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN10276684
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
University of Manchester RDMP, 3610
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 11 days
Research summary
This project is one stage in testing whether a peer mentor or ‘buddy’ scheme to support people living with advanced cancer benefits patients by helping them to cope better. It is developed from an interview study recently completed by our team in which we explored which strategies patients with advanced cancer and their informal carers use to cope and maintain wellbeing. The results showed us that strategies were formed outside the clinical context, developed or evolved over time and that earlier knowledge could reduce anxiety and distress. Participants appreciated contact with someone who understood their situation first-hand but in a non-group, non-clinical setting. We believe that having control over the type, frequency and length of contact with a peer mentor is important in this process and will allow patients to gain from the interaction and from the experiential advice/support offered at a time when they may have less control over many parts of their lives. We know from existing research and theory that these strategies ‘fit’ what is believed to be helpful. We now need to test out whether an intervention addressing this preference would work in practice.\n\nWe propose offering a trained volunteer ‘buddy’ to patients with advanced cancer. Buddies will have first-hand knowledge of living with advanced cancer and, using novel findings from our recent study, be trained in how to talk to others about that in a non-clinical way. We will provide practical and psychological support for buddies. For a random selection of half of the patients in the study a co-ordinator will allocate a ‘buddy’ who will make contact once or twice a week for up to 12 weeks. Each contact can last up to 2 hours in a form and place decided by the patient/buddy pair. Contact will end if the patient dies or if requested earlier by patient, carer or ‘buddy’. We will use short questionnaires and interviews to understand how practical it might be to fully test this service by looking at: how we provide it; what challenges a full trial may pose; and how best and when to measure patients’ wellbeing.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
16/WA/0032
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion