A Finding Balance Writing Intervention for Older Bereaved Caregivers

Finding Balance: The Experience of Hope for Bereaved Caregivers of Palliative Cancer Patients

The overall purpose of this study is to develop and pilot-test a theory-based psychosocial supportive "finding balance" intervention for older, bereaved spousal caregivers of a palliative cancer patient.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Grief
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Writing Intervention

Detailed Description

Research devoted to determining the efficacy of bereavement interventions remains a top priority. The development of theory-based, acceptable and feasible psychosocial interventions would begin to address the needs of family caregivers. A prominent theory of coping with bereavement, Stroebe and Schut's Dual Process Model, describes oscillation between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented coping; having a balance between these processes predicted more positive outcomes for older bereaved spouses. Similarly, the process of "finding balance" emerged as a first step in the search for new hope in the PI's grounded theory research with older bereaved family caregivers. They described the importance and difficulty of "finding balance" as they recovered from caregiving and struggled to find a new meaning and purpose for their lives after the loss of a spouse to cancer. An intervention focused on "finding balance" provides an innovative and promising approach to guiding the development of a theory-based psychosocial intervention for family caregivers who become bereaved. In clinical work a highly focused writing intervention has shown important benefits (personal communication, Dr. Robert Neimeyer, March 4, 2009). A validated tool to measure the effectiveness of an intervention to find balance does not exist, however valid existing measures of hope, grief, and an inventory of balance based on the Dual Process Model will be used as proxies. Therefore, the overall purpose of this study is to develop and pilot-test a theory-based psychosocial supportive "finding balance" intervention for older, bereaved spousal caregivers of a palliative cancer patient.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 23
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W8
      • University of Saskatchewan

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• women and men, ages 60 and over, who previously resided with and provided care for a spouse with terminal cancer who died within the last year, English speaking, and freely consenting to be involved in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• will be those cognitively impaired, non-autonomous, or not able to give a free and informed consent, as determined by the registered nurse research assistant on initial contact.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Writing Group; This group will receive the writing intervention.	Behavioral: Writing Intervention; Finding Balance Writing Intervention
No Intervention: No Intervention; Non Writing Group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Grief	Herth Hope Index, Hogan Grief Scale, Inventory of Daily Widowed Life, Finding Balance Scale	2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan
• Collaborators: Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Holtslander LF, Bally JM, Steeves ML. Walking a fine line: an exploration of the experience of finding balance for older persons bereaved after caregiving for a spouse with advanced cancer. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2011 Jul;15(3):254-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2010.12.004. Epub 2011 Jan 17.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 7, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 12, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): August 15, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 17, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 15, 2012
• Last Verified: July 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Older Adults; Writing Intervention; Bereaved Caregivers; hope; inventory of daily widowed life
• Other Study ID Numbers: 08-154

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No