Living With Prostate Cancer (LPC) (LPC)

Evaluating a Group Therapy Intervention to Alleviate Psychological Distress in Men With Prostate Cancer: An Assessment of a Group Therapy Program From Vancouver's Prostate Cancer Supportive Care (PCSC) Program

This is a prospective evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the Prostate Cancer Supportive Care (PCSC) Program's group therapy program, Living with Prostate Cancer (LPC). LPC is an intervention which utilizes a small group format (5-7 participants with 2 leaders and a paraprofessional counselling student) to understand and learn how to manage emotional responses, depressive symptoms, and life stressors associated with prostate cancer. Data for this evaluation will be derived from a focus group (at 3 months) and self-report questionnaires that participants will complete immediately prior to the intervention, immediately following the intervention and at 3, 6, and 12-months post-intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Prostate Cancer

Detailed Description

The Vancouver Prostate Centre's (VPCs) PCSC Program is designed to address the gap in supportive care for men with prostate cancer (PC), their partners and their families. The evaluation protocol described here is specific to the program called "Living with Prostate Cancer" (LPC) from the Psychooncology module of the PCSC Program. The specific rationale for this module is that many cancer patients will experience significant anxiety or depression at some point along their cancer journey. The module includes private, confidential clinic appointments for PC patients and their spouses/partners, either separately or together, with our registered clinical counsellor, to explore how to cope with difficult emotions such as fear, anxiety, sadness, helplessness, and other signs of emotional distress. The module is now being expanded to include small group discussions. LPC is a group therapy program in which men participate in a guided autobiographical life review through a process that focuses on developing a cohesive working group, learning strategic communication skills, and understanding and learning how to manage difficult emotions and transitional life stressors associated with PC. It also focuses on the processing and integrating of critical events that contribute to the men's present day identity and psychological function and involves the consolidation of the personal learning that occurs. It shifts the focus on transitioning into the future by developing specific individual, family and/or career goals that are reinforced by ongoing support from peers in the group. Finally, post-group referral plans are developed on an individual basis as needed.

The group therapy program includes men with a diagnosis of PC Stages 1 to 3. We will administer validated quantitative tools to assess depression and anxiety, general psychological functioning, and male role norms (masculinity) before, after, and at 3, 6, and 12-months following the program. The meeting 3 months after the program will include a focus group process.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 42

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 1M9
      • Vancouver Prostate Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The LPC Workshops will only include men with a diagnosis of Prostate Cancer Stages 1 to 3.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Men are eligible to participate in this evaluation if they:

• are older than 18 years old
• are willing to attend the "Living with Prostate Cancer" group therapy sessions from the PCSC Program*
• are able to speak and read English such that they are able to understand the questionnaires
• have unimpaired cognitive function with an ability to understand the nature of the study
• are willing to complete questionnaires at 5 time points

• provide written informed consent

  • to be able to participate in LPC groups, men must have recently received a diagnosis of PC Stages 1 to 3, or have recently been recommended to undergo a form of treatment following a period of active surveillance.

Exclusion Criteria:

Men will be ineligible to participate in this evaluation if they:

• have difficulties reading or understanding English
• have psychotic symptoms, current severe alcohol or other drug dependence, unwillingness to refrain from substance use during the program, and/or significant cognitive impairment that would prevent them participating or providing full informed consent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms	Measured by the Beck Depression Inventory	Baseline (pre-workshop), 3-Weeks (Post-workshop), 3-, 6- and 12 Months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in overall well-being	Measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale	Baseline (pre-workshop), 3-Weeks (Post-workshop), 3-, 6- and 12 Months
Changes in perceptions of masculinity	Measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire	Baseline (pre-workshop), 3-Weeks (Post-workshop), 3-, 6- and 12 Months
Changes in perceptions of masculinity	Measured by the Masculine Behaviour Scale	Baseline (pre-workshop), 3-Weeks (Post-workshop), 3-, 6- and 12 Months
Group cohesion and dynamics	Measured by the Group Questionnaire	3-Weeks (Post-workshop), 3-, 6- and 12 Months
Patient-incurred costs for attending the session	Measured by an annotated cost questionnaire for completion by patients	3-Weeks (Post-Workshop)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Vancouver Prostate Centre
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David Kuhl, MD, University of British Columbia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 9, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 7, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 2, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): June 6, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 2, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 1, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Genital Neoplasms, Male; Prostatic Diseases; Prostatic Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: PCSC-6

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No