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

August 3, 2025 updated by: Lutenio Junior, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, E.P.E.
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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Portugal
      • Coimbra, Portugal, 3000-317
        • Lutenio Soares Faria Junior

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 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

Exclusion Criteria:

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

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ECSCP
Patients visited at home by the community palliative care support team
Other: Approach to spirituality through hope and acceptance

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.
No Intervention: CSP
Patients with follow-up consultations by primary health care

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hope
Time Frame: 5 months
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
Time Frame: 5 months
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

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, E.P.E.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 3, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 3, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

August 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 11, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 3, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CE-190/2024

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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