Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) Training
1 other identifier
interventional
1,232
1 country
12
Brief Summary
Research indicates that perceived stigma within medical encounters is prevalent and problematic for lung cancer patients' well-being and quality of cancer care. Promoting empathic communication appears to be a potentially effective intervention target to help reduce patients' perceptions of stigma within clinical encounters; however, no formal trainings exist that focus on teaching empathic communication to oncology care providers (OCPs). Building upon favorable findings from a prior R21 (R21CA202793) and the importance of developing interventions to address lung cancer stigma, our goal is to conduct a national trial of empathic communication skills (ECS) training to facilitate improvements in the medical and psychosocial care of patients through de-stigmatizing interactions with OCPs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable lung-cancer
Started Apr 2023
Typical duration for not_applicable lung-cancer
12 active sites
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
Click on a node to explore related trials.
Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
July 8, 2022
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
July 13, 2022
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
April 28, 2023
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
August 31, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
August 31, 2026
March 17, 2026
March 1, 2026
3.3 years
July 8, 2022
March 16, 2026
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (2)
Uptake of communication skills using standardized patient assessment/SPAs
A SPA involves a 12-minute video recorded interaction between the Oncology Care Provider/OCP and the Standardized Patient/SP on a given clinical scenario, using standardized scripts by the SP. Each OCP will participate in one SPA prior to their ECS training and one SPA following training or the timed control period. In contrast to clinical consultation recordings with varied clinical situations that do not necessitate the use of all strategies and skills, the semi-structured nature of SPAs permits appraisal of all desired elements of training.
3 months
Uptake of empathy skills using standardized patient assessment/SPAs
A SPA involves a 12-minute video recorded interaction between the Oncology Care Provider/OCP and the Standardized Patient/SP on a given clinical scenario, using standardized scripts by the SP. Each OCP will participate in one SPA prior to their ECS training and one SPA following training or the timed control period. In contrast to clinical consultation recordings with varied clinical situations that do not necessitate the use of all strategies and skills, the semi-structured nature of SPAs permits appraisal of all desired elements of training.
3 months
Study Arms (4)
Oncology Care Providers/OCP-intervention group
EXPERIMENTALProviders participate in Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) training
Oncology Care Providers/OCP-control group
ACTIVE COMPARATORProviders complete all study measures and are offered ECS training after data collection is completed at their site.
Participants with Lung Cancer-intervention group
EXPERIMENTALParticipants will engage with oncology care providers/OCP who have undergone Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) training
Participants with Lung Cancer-control group
ACTIVE COMPARATORWaitlist control group - WLC
Interventions
The overall training goal of this 2.25 hour module ECS module is to enhance OCP recognition and responsiveness to lung cancer patients' empathic opportunities by communicating understanding, alleviating stigma and distress, and providing support. The ECS training also provides tools to OCPs to buffer/inoculate patients against stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors by others such that lung cancer patients who currently or formerly smoked can be given "small doses" of an opposing viewpoint (termed as "preparing patients for recurring smoking questions") and suggestions of "counterarguments" in order to make them resistant to future stigmatizing attacks by others
Standard of Care participant interaction
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Site Eligibility
- Employs at least 15 FTE OCPs (i.e., oncologists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) as per self report
- Reports a clinic volume of at least 20 new lung cancer patients per month as per self report
- OCP Participant Eligibility
- OCPs who are thoracic oncology physicians (radiologists, medical oncologists, pulmonologists, and surgeons), NPs, or PAs and currently treating lung cancer patients, as per self-report;
- OCP conducts consultations with lung cancer patients, as per self-report;
- OCP sees at least 1 lung cancer patient per week, as per self-report;
- Patient Eligibility
- Patient under the care of a participating OCP as per self report;
- English and/or Spanish speaking;
- In general, which language do you prefer to receive your medical care, English/Spanish/both English and Spanish Equally?
- If English, treat as fluent in English, no additional language questions
- If Spanish, treat as fluent in Spanish, no additional language questions
- If both English and Spanish equally, ask the follow-up questions and go with whichever language is endorsed as best. If endorsed equally, assign to category patient prefers
- How well do you speak English? Not at all/ Not well/Well/Very well
- +5 more criteria
You may not qualify if:
- Individuals of impaired decision-making capacity as per a clinician's judgment or as documented in the EMR.
- None
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centerlead
- American Cancer Society, Inc.collaborator
- Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancercollaborator
Study Sites (12)
Providence St. Joseph Health (Data Collection Only)
Irvine, California, 92612, United States
BAPTIST ALLIANCE - MCI (Data Collection Only)
Miami, Florida, 33143, United States
Advocate Health Care Network
Libertyville, Illinois, 60048, United States
University of Kentucky (Data Collection Only)
Lexington, Kentucky, 40536-0093, United States
Munson Healthcare (Data Collection Only)
Traverse City, Michigan, 49684, United States
Hackensack Meridian Health (Data collection only)
Hackensack, New Jersey, 07601, United States
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Data Collection Only)
Buffalo, New York, 14263-0001, United States
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (All Protocol Activities)
New York, New York, 10065, United States
Virtua Health (Data Collection Only)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 08060, United States
University of Pennsylvania (Data Collection Only)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-4283, United States
Fox Chase Cancer Center (Data Collection Only)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19111, United States
Chesapeake Regional Healthcare (Data Collection Only)
Chesapeake, Virginia, 23320, United States
Related Publications (2)
Banerjee SC, Malling CD, Schofield EA, Carter-Bawa L, Bylund CL, Hamann HA, Parker PA, Shen MJ, Studts JL, Williamson TJ, Ostroff JS. Empathic communication skills training to reduce lung cancer stigma: Study protocol of a cluster randomized control trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2024 Oct;145:107669. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107669. Epub 2024 Aug 23.
PMID: 39182827DERIVEDBanerjee SC, Malling CD, Shen MJ, Williamson TJ, Bylund CL, Studts JL, Mullett T, Carter-Bawa L, Hamann HA, Parker PA, Steliga M, Feldman J, Pantelas J, Borondy-Kitts A, Rigney M, King JC, Fathi JT, Rosenthal LS, Smith RA, Ostroff JS. Getting ready for prime time: Recommended adaptations of an Empathic Communication Skills training intervention to reduce lung cancer stigma for a national multi-center trial. Transl Behav Med. 2023 Sep 28;13(10):804-808. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibad048.
PMID: 37579304DERIVED
Related Links
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Smita Banerjee, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- DOUBLE
- Who Masked
- PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER
- Purpose
- OTHER
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
July 8, 2022
First Posted
July 13, 2022
Study Start
April 28, 2023
Primary Completion (Estimated)
August 31, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
August 31, 2026
Last Updated
March 17, 2026
Record last verified: 2026-03
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will share
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center supports the international committee of medical journal editors (ICMJE) and the ethical obligation of responsible sharing of data from clinical trials. The protocol summary, a statistical summary, and informed consent form will be made available on clinicaltrials.gov when required as a condition of Federal awards, other agreements supporting the research and/or as otherwise required. Requests for deidentified individual participant data can be made beginning 12 months after publication and for up to 36 months post publication. Deidentified individual participant data reported in the manuscript will be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement and may only be used for approved proposals. Requests may be made to: crdatashare@mskcc.org.