Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to identify the burden, benefits, or impact of caregiving on the health of the caregiver and patient with heart failure.

This study seeks to understand providers’ perspectives on integrating a routine caregiver assessment tool into clinical practice.

The purpose of this study is to determine, through in-depth interviews, the motivations, values, preferences, and expectations of VCA candidates and their caregivers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability among caregivers and patients of an emotional disclosure intervention that includes writing exercises on a secure electronic platform and speaking exercises that are recorded onto a secure electronic platform; to examine the effectiveness of three different prompts to elicit an emotional response in the exercise; and to examine preliminary effects of writing exercises vs. verbal exercises on physical health and psychosocial health.
 

Although survivorship recommendations have been developed in areas such as lymphoma and stem cell transplant, the long-term effects of CAR-T therapy are unknown. In addition, relatively little is known about the psychosocial impact of CAR-T on survivors and their caregivers. Due to the intensive nature of CAR-T treatment and its unique side effects, including neurotoxicity in the acute setting and infections and financial burden in the long-term setting, a longitudinal study that assesses these issues in a quantitative and qualitative fashion is required. Consideration of both patient and caregiver needs is important for the provision of appropriate and effective health services, particularly in intensive cancer treatments that require a caregiver, such as CAR-T.

Our objective in this proposal is to define the long-term needs of CAR-T survivors using patient-reported health-related quality of life (QOL) measures, qualitative interviews, and adverse event data. The rationale for our proposed study is that it will provide the necessary knowledge on CAR-T survivor physical, mental, and social health to formulate a CAR-T specific survivorship program that can be implemented and studied in the future.

We aim to recruit 100 subjects (50 survivors and 50 caregivers) to the study. Inclusion Criteria are the following:  age ≥ 18, blood cancer diagnosis (including B-ALL, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma), receiving a CAR-T product, able to complete a written questionnaire in English either independently or with assistance, and able to perform a verbal interview either in person or via phone teleconference. We will survey patients at baseline and then at pre-specified timepoints up to 2 years after CAR-T. Survey questionnaires that have been previously validated in cancer populations will be used to assess: overall quality of life, psychosocial impact, cognitive function, post-traumatic stress, spiritual well-being, and financial toxicity. Patient demographics, adverse events, and comorbidities will also be collected via survey and/or medical record review. A selected subset of participants (10 survivors and 10 caregivers) will be chosen to undergo semi-structured open ended interviewing to obtain a qualitative understanding of unmet needs, social support, and distress. Data will be analyzed and compared to historical lymphoma and transplant cohorts.

The purpose of this study is to conduct semi-structured interviews with patients who have primary and metastatic CNS tumors as well as caregivers of these patients. 

The purpose of this research is to iteratively develop an natural language (NL) web-based app tool using information learned from stakeholders on design and content, especially as it relates to the needs and usability for persons with dementia and/or their caregivers.

The purpose of this study is to collect pilot data to determine levels of physical activity (PA) among HCT patients and caregivers, and to assess hypothetical interest in a dyad-based, technology-enhanced PA intervention for HCT patients and caregivers.

The purpose of the study is to examine the agrrement in perception of finacial hardship (FH) and the perceived stress in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and their caregivers (CG). Additionally, we will describe protective buffering/emotional disclosure in patients with MM and their CGs and examine their association with FH, and perceived stress.

The purpose of this research is to gather information to help guide the development of a user-centered web-based tool that will help persons with dementia and/or their care partners accomplish personalized financial management and legal planning, resulting in better financial/legal outcomes.