HOPE AND ACCEPTANCE AT THE END OF LIFE - IMPACT OF SPIRITUALITY ON PALLIATIVE CARE PATIENTS

NCT07113899 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CE-190/2024
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to evaluate the hope and acceptance among patients visited by the Equipa Comunitária de Suporte em Cuidados Paliativos do Baixo Mondego. This study is a prospective longitudinal research study. The sample consisted of two groups: the Intervention Group, which included patients from the network of the Equipa Comunitária de Suporte em Cuidados Paliativos do Baixo Mondego (ECSCP-BM), and the Control Group, with selected patients from Unidade de Saúde Familiar Nautilus e Unidade de Saúde Familiar Coimbra Centro, with serious illness, comorbidities, and a poor prognosis. The patients chosen from ECSCP-BM were made up only of new patients referred to the team without any prior home consultations. The first questionnaire application took place during the first visit, and the second one was administered fourteen days later. The Primary Health Care patients were selected by invitation, and the questionnaire was administered. It included sociodemographic data, clinical data, the Herth Hope Index - PT and open questions.

Conditions

Hope; Acceptance; Spirituality

Keywords

hope; acceptance; spirituality; end of life; palliative care

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Hope

  Participants answered questions on the Hope Scale. There were 9 questions with 4 possible answers. Each answer was scored from 1 to 4. The maximum score on the scale was 36.

  5 months

• Acceptance

  Participants answered three open-ended questions to assess their acceptance. These questions were asked to the control group and at the first assessment of the intervention group. At the second assessment of the intervention group, after 14 days, a fourth question was also asked, assessing the team's intervention during those 14 days.

  5 months

Study Arms (2)

ECSCP

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients visited at home by the community palliative care support team

Other: Approach to spirituality through hope and acceptance

CSP

NO INTERVENTION

Patients with follow-up consultations by primary health care

Interventions

Approach to spirituality through hope and acceptance OTHER

This study is a prospective longitudinal research study. The sample consisted of two groups: the Intervention Group, which included patients from the community palliative care support team (ECSCP-BM), and the Control Group, with primary health care selected patients from the family health units Nautilus and Coimbra Centro (CSP), with serious illness, comorbidities, and a poor prognosis. The patients chosen from ECSCP-BM were made up only of new patients referred to the team without any prior home consultations. The first questionnaire application took place during the first visit, and the second one was administered fourteen days later. The Primary Health Care patients were selected by invitation, and the questionnaire was administered. It included sociodemographic data, clinical data, the Herth Hope Index and open questions. During the palliative care team's home visit, spirituality was addressed in in the clinical history through the assessment of hope and acceptance.

ECSCP

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• new referrals made by the family doctor to the community palliative care support team (which integrated the patient into the palliative care team network for the first time) - for the intervention group
• patients registered at the Nautilus Family Health Unit or Coimbra Centro Family Health Unit with serious pathology, comorbidities and reserved prognosis - for the control group

You may not qualify if:

• age under 18
• pregnancy
• altered state of consciousness or dementia
• low level of education

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra, EPE: lead

Study Sites (1)

Lutenio Soares Faria Junior

Coimbra, Coimbra District, 3000-317, Portugal

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Death

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 3, 2025
• First Posted: August 11, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2025
• Study Completion: May 31, 2025
• Last Updated: August 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-12

Locations

PT (1)