Pilot of the Preparation Star, an new version of the Outcomes Star

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Pilot of the Preparation Star, a new version of the Outcomes Star to support people to talk about and prepare for their death, to help them improve their experience and live as well as possible to the end

• IRAS ID

  232821

• Contact name

  Sara Burns

• Contact email

  sara@triangleconsulting.co.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Triangle Consulting Social Enterprise

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 6 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  This study is a pilot of the Preparation Star - a new version of the Outcomes Star™, being developed to support and measure change in service users facing the end of life. The Preparation Star is an interview based tool, which workers use with service users to help them to think about where they are, and where they would like to be in nine important areas (e.g. pain management, care and dignity, family and friends).
  The development and pilot has been financed by several collaborators (North London Hospice, Jewish Care, St Joseph’s Hospice, London ADASS and Macmillan Cancer Support), who have confirmed the need for this Star to involve patients in meeting their needs, as well as to develop a common framework across agencies which will be capable of providing an informative data set about the needs and progress of patients towards the end of life. The final version will be published and accessible to organisations licenced and trained to use the Outcomes Star tools.
  The Preparation Star will be piloted at four sites in the UK which support patient’s physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being towards the end of life. This pilot study will assess the acceptability, usability, content and validity of the Preparation Star in hospices and care homes. Over the course of six months, patients will be asked to complete a Star reading with a worker by using scale descriptions for each of the nine areas (e.g. pain management). This generates a Star reading, which consists of a rating (1-5) for each Star area. Patient’s Star readings will be collated and passed, anonymously and securely, to Triangle for psychometric analyses. Patients and workers will also be asked to provide anonymous feedback about the language used and the process of completing the Star. This feedback will be analysed by Triangle.

• REC name

  London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/LO/0015

• Date of REC Opinion

  1 Mar 2018

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion