HOLA Intervention Pilot

May 11, 2026 updated by: Ana Isabel Tergas, MD, MPH, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Heightening Oncologist-Latino/a Cancer Patient Alliances (HOLA) Intervention Pilot Study

The patient-clinician relationship is fundamental to providing high-quality patient-centered medical care. A therapeutic alliance (TA) is a patient clinician relationship that is characterized by mutual caring, trust, understanding, and respect. A strong TA between oncologists and patients with advanced cancer is associated with several positive health outcomes for patients and caregivers. However, previous work showed a stark disparity in the TA for Latino/a patients with advanced cancer vs. non-Latino/a white patients. The overall objective of this study is to pilot the Heightening Oncologist-Latino/a cancer patient Alliances (HOLA) intervention to assess its feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness, and the preliminary efficacy of the intervention's impact on the TA between oncologists and their Latino/a patients with advanced cancer. The HOLA intervention will teach oncologists specific evidence based skills and behaviors for promoting a TA with Latino/a advanced cancer patients through the integration of patient-centered communication techniques that are aligned with Latino/a cultural values via commonly encountered clinical scenarios. The investigators will pilot test the HOLA intervention with eight oncologists and 32 of their patients, half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist who will be randomized to receive the TA intervention (n=4 oncologists), and half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist (n=4 oncologists) who was randomized to usual care. The feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of the intervention will be assessed using standard measures. Preliminary efficacy will be determined by comparing the mean TA scores for the oncologists who were randomized to receive the intervention to the mean TA scores for the oncologists who were randomized to usual care.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

32

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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:

  1. identifying as ethnically Latino;
  2. locally advanced or metastatic cancer (pancreaticobiliary, esophagogastric, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung, or gynecological cancer) AND have experienced disease progression on at least first-line chemotherapy
  3. ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. not fluent in English or Spanish;
  2. severely cognitively impaired (as measured by Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire scores of < 6 during screening);
  3. too ill or weak to complete the interviews (as judged by interviewer);
  4. children and young adults under age 21
  5. patients deemed inappropriate for the study by their treating oncologist.

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Oncologists

The HOLA intervention is aimed at oncologists and consists of a one hour interactive didactic session and a one-hour small group session.

Pre-recorded video vignettes and role playing with a trained moderator will be incorporated both into the interactive group didactic session and the small group session.
Other: HOLA Intervention

The HOLA intervention is aimed at oncologists and consists of a one hour interactive didactic session and a one-hour small group session.

Pre-recorded video vignettes and role playing with a trained moderator will be incorporated both into the interactive group didactic session and the small group session.
No Intervention: Oncologists (Usual Care)
We will pilot test the HOLA intervention with eight oncologists and 32 of their patients, half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist who will be randomized to receive the TA intervention (n=4 oncologists), and half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist (n=4 oncologists) who was randomized to usual care.
Active Comparator: Patients
We will pilot test the HOLA intervention with eight oncologists and 32 of their patients, half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist who will be randomized to receive the TA intervention (n=4 oncologists), and half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist (n=4 oncologists) who was randomized to usual care.
Other: HOLA Intervention

The HOLA intervention is aimed at oncologists and consists of a one hour interactive didactic session and a one-hour small group session.

Pre-recorded video vignettes and role playing with a trained moderator will be incorporated both into the interactive group didactic session and the small group session.
No Intervention: Patients (Usual Care)
We will pilot test the HOLA intervention with eight oncologists and 32 of their patients, half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist who will be randomized to receive the TA intervention (n=4 oncologists), and half (n=16 patients) who are under the care of an oncologist (n=4 oncologists) who was randomized to usual care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of Intervention
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 to 3 months

Will be assessed using the Feasibility of Intervention

Measure, which consists of 4 questions:

  1. [Intervention] seems implementable.
  2. [Intervention] seems possible.
  3. [Intervention] seems doable.
  4. [Intervention] seems easy to use. Responses are on a 5-point Likert Scale, ranging from completely agree to completely disagree.
From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 to 3 months
Accessibility
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 to 3 months

Will be assessed using the Acceptability of Intervention

Measure, which consists of 4 questions:

1) [Intervention] meets my approval, 2) [Intervention] is appealing to me, 3) I like [Intervention], 4) I welcome [Intervention]. Responses are on 3 5-point Likert Scale, ranging from completely agree to completely disagree.
From enrollment to the end of intervention at 1 to 3 months
Appropriateness of Intervention
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of the intervention at 1 to 3 months

Will be assessed using the Intervention

Appropriateness Measure, which consists of 4 questions:

1) [Intervention] seems fitting, 2) [Intervention] seems suitable, 3) [Intervention] seems applicable, 4) [Intervention] seems like a good match. Responses are on a 5-point Likert Scale, ranging from completely agree to completely disagree.
From enrollment to the end of the intervention at 1 to 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Preliminary efficacy of the intervention
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of the intervention at 1 to 3 months
Preliminary efficacy of the intervention for improving the TA between oncologists and Latino advanced cancer patients will be assessed by comparing mean patient TA scores, as measured by The Human Connection Scale (HCS), which consists of 16 likert-scale questions regarding the patient's relationship to their oncologist. The minimum value of the scale is 16 and the maximum value is 64, with higher scores indicating a better outcome (stronger therapeutic alliance/human connection).
From enrollment to the end of the intervention at 1 to 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 11, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro2025000017

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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