Quality of Life Trends in People With and Without Cancer Referred to Volunteer-Provided Palliative Care Services (ELSA): A Longitudinal Study

Walshe, Catherine; Preston, Nancy; Payne, Sheila; Dodd, S.J.; Algorta, Guillermo Pérez

doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.07.020

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interventions influencing quality of life with this group of patients are important. The low, and often deteriorating, quality of life of the small cohort studied mirrors that seen in other palliative care studies [43,44]. Yet for those who received the intervention, other more general aspects of quality of life assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF seemed to improve.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Peer support to maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer: findings from a feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Advanced cancer affects people's lives, often causing stress, anxiety and depression. Peer mentor interventions are used to address psychosocial concerns, but their outcomes and effect are not known. Our objective was to determine the feasibility of delivering and investigating a novel peer mentor intervention to promote and maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer. Methods: A mixed methods design incorporating a two-armed controlled trial (random allocation ratio 1:1) of a proactive peer mentor intervention plus usual care, vs. usual care alone, and a qualitative process evaluation. Peer mentors were recruited, trained, and matched with people with advanced cancer. Quantitative data assessed quality of life, coping styles, depression, social support and use of healthcare and other supports. Qualitative interviews probed experiences of the study and intervention. Results: Peer mentor training and numbers (n = 12) met feasibility targets. Patient participants (n = 12, from 181 eligible who received an information pack) were not recruited to feasibility targets. Those who entered the study demonstrated that intervention delivery and data collection were feasible. Outcome data must be treated with extreme caution due to small numbers, but indicate that the intervention may have a positive effect on quality of life. Conclusions: Peer mentor interventions are worthy of further study and researchers can learn from these feasibility data in planning participant recruitment and data collection strategies. Pragmatic trials, where the effectiveness of an intervention is tested in real-world routine practice, may be most appropriate. Peer mentor interventions may have merit in enabling survivors with advanced cancer cope with their disease.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Peer support to maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer: findings from a feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A study using an intervention of a nurse navigator who collected monthly quality of life scores from 26 older persons living with advancing chronic illness, over a 4–20 month period, reflected relatively stable scores over time, although without a control group it is impossible to know what these scores would have looked like without the nurse navigator [ 50 ]. However, there is other data to suggest that those with cancer do experience diminishing quality of life compared to their counterparts with non-malignant disease [ 66 ]. In that case, a stabilization of quality of life scores might be considered a successful outcome.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mixed-method evaluation of a volunteer navigation intervention for older persons living with chronic illness (Nav-CARE): findings from a knowledge translation study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Volunteer navigation is an innovative way to help older persons get connected to resources in their community that they may not know about or have difficulty accessing. Nav-CARE is an intervention in which volunteers, who are trained in navigation, provide services for older persons living at home with chronic illness to improve their quality of life. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of Nav-CARE on volunteers, older persons, and family participating across eight Canadian sites. Methods Nav-CARE was implemented using a knowledge translation approach in eight sites using a 12- or 18-month intervention period. A mixed method evaluation was used to understand the outcomes upon older person engagement; volunteer self-efficacy; and older person, family, and volunteer quality of life and satisfaction with the intervention. Results Older persons and family were highly satisfied with the intervention, citing benefits of social connection and support, help with negotiating the social aspects of healthcare, access to cost-effective resources, and family respite. They were less satisfied with the practical help available for transportation and errands. Older persons self-reported knowledge of the services available to them and confidence in making decisions about their healthcare showed statistically significant improvements (P < .05) over 12–18 months. Volunteers reported satisfaction with their role, particularly as it related to building relationships over time, and good self-efficacy. Volunteer attrition was a result of not recruiting older persons in a timely manner. There was no statistically significant improvement in quality of life for older persons, family or volunteers from baseline to study completion. Conclusions Findings from this study support a developing body of evidence showing the contributions volunteers make to enhanced older person and family well-being in the context of chronic illness. Statistically significant improvements were documented in aspects of client engagement. However, there were no statistically significant improvements in quality of life scores even though qualitative data illustrated very specific positive outcomes of the intervention. Similar findings in other volunteer-led intervention studies raise the question of whether there is a need for targeted volunteer-sensitive outcome measures.

show abstract

“…Besides, the enriched environment activated peripheral SNS/β-ARs/CCL2 signaling pathway, which protected mice from liver neoplasia growth and PD-L1 treatment resistance through increasing CD8+ T cells cytotoxic effect ( 151 ). In a study about community life support programs, the cancer patients experienced better quality of life after volunteer-provided palliative ( 152 ). The potential of dietary strategies in influencing carcinogenesis has been well established in epidemiological researches ( 19 ).…”

Section: Stress Management and Anti-cancer Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress and cancer: The mechanisms of immune dysregulation and management

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Advances in the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology in the past decade have emphasized the notion that stress and cancer are interlinked closely. Durable chronic stress accelerated tumorigenesis and progression, which is unfavorable for clinical outcomes of cancer patients. Available evidence has provided unprecedented knowledge about the role and mechanisms of chronic stress in carcinogenesis, the most well-known one is dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). With abnormal activation of neuroendocrine system, stress-related hormones contribute to increased oncogenes expression, exacerbated chronic inflammation and impaired immunologic function. In addition, accumulating studies have demonstrated that diverse stress interventions including pharmacological approaches, physical exercises and psychological relaxation have been administered to assist in mental disorders reduction and life quality improvement in cancer patients. In this review, we systematically summarize the connection and mechanisms in the stress-immune-cancer axis identified by animal and clinical studies, as well as conclude the effectiveness and deficiencies of existing stress management strategies.

show abstract

Quality of Life Trends in People With and Without Cancer Referred to Volunteer-Provided Palliative Care Services (ELSA): A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Referral triggers for those with and without cancer may be different. People with cancer can be expected to have a more rapid decline in quality of life from the point of service referral. This may indicate greater support needs, including from volunteer-provided palliative care services.

Cited by 7 publications

References 72 publications

Peer support to maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer: findings from a feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial

Peer support to maintain psychological wellbeing in people with advanced cancer: findings from a feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial

A mixed-method evaluation of a volunteer navigation intervention for older persons living with chronic illness (Nav-CARE): findings from a knowledge translation study

Stress and cancer: The mechanisms of immune dysregulation and management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About