STEP feasibility study

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  STEP Feasibility Study

• IRAS ID

  258812

• Contact name

  Lucy Ziegler

• Contact email

  l.e.ziegler@leeds.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Leeds

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  n/a, n/a

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 6 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Through working with patients and healthcare professionals we have developed a conversation guide designed for the discussion of palliative care in cancer consultations. Previous research has shown that patients with advanced cancer are often referred to palliative care services late in their cancer pathway and therefore do not always benefit from services that could help them. There are a number of reasons for this including: fears and stigma about hospices; patients not feeling ready for the conversation; and healthcare professionals not knowing the appropriate time to have these conversations. We aim to assess how patients and healthcare professionals experience using the guide and having conversations about palliative care earlier than usual.
  This pilot project will assess how patients and healthcare professionals experience using the guide in two settings: an outpatient clinic for patients with gastro-intestinal cancer, and in a cluster of GP surgeries. Patients will be eligible to take part if they have advanced cancer, which is not being treated with the aim of cure, and are under the care of the participating clinics. Suitable patients will be identified by the healthcare professionals and asked to take part. If they choose to take part they will be given some information to prepare them in advance for the consultation. They will then have the consultation where the healthcare professional uses the conversation guide. Patients will be asked to take part in an interview during the week following the consultation, which aims to see how they found the experience. A month later, the patient will be asked to take part in a shorter telephone interview, which aims to see what has happened with their care during this time. Healthcare professionals will take part in an interview at the end of the project to see how they found using the guide.

• REC name

  North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/NW/0175

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Mar 2019

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion