Empowering Monterey Bay Residents for Activated, Collaborative, and Equitable Care (EMBRACE)

EMBRACE - Empowering Monterey Bay Residents for Activated, Collaborative, and Equitable Care

The purpose of the EMBRACE Study is to evaluate whether a facilitated intervention improves shared decision-making (SDM) and patient activation among low-income and minority individuals more than usual care only. The ultimate goal is to enhance SDM and patient activation in care.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Quality of Life; Terminal Illness; Shared Decision-Making; Advanced Illness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Research Assistant Support

Detailed Description

This study will assess if an intervention that is delivered by a Stanford trained Research Assistant (RA) will help people better engage in their care with their clinicians.

A total of n=138 patients will be recruited for this study using flyers that will be distributed to our community partner organizations. Approximately 69 patients will be randomized into each study group.

Participants will receive either usual care or will be assigned into the intervention (EMBRACE). Participants assigned to the intervention will receive education provided by a trained RA who will meet with participants by phone for 30 minutes once a month for 6 months to: 1) discuss the importance of shared decision-making, advance care planning, and goal concordant care, and 2) encourage to engage in SDM with their clinicians.

All participants in the study will receive 4 surveys: at baseline (at time of enrollment), 1, 3, and 6 months after study enrollment by telephone, mail, or through a secure REDCap online link delivered to participants.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 138
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must be receiving clinical care by a primary care physician in the Monterey area
• Participants must be 18 years or older.
• Participants must speak either English or Spanish.
• Participants must be able to consent verbally in English or Spanish to all study procedures.
• Participants must self-identify as a racial/ethnic minorities OR identify as having low-income status

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients unable to respond to survey questions in either English or Spanish.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Usual Care; This arm is the control group. They will receive usual care from their regular provider and care team with no change in their care plans as a result of the intervention. Outcomes will be assessed at each of the following times: baseline, 3-months, and 6-months post-enrollment.
Experimental: EMBRACE plus usual care; Participants assigned to the intervention will receive education provided by a trained RA who will meet with participants by phone for 30 minutes once a month for 6 months to: 1) discuss shared decision-making and 2) encourage to engage in SDM with their clinicians. Outcomes will be assessed at each of the following times: baseline, 3-months, and 6-months.	Behavioral: Research Assistant Support; For those in the experimental group, a Research Assistant will provide health education and support as described in the Intervention arm.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient activation using the "Patient Activation Measure" survey	Each patient will receive a validated patient activation survey using the "Patient Activation Measure" at enrollment and 3 months after study enrollment. This is a validated measure from Insignia Health. Responses are: disagree strongly, disagree, agree, agree strongly with higher activation correlated with responses of agree and agree strongly. Each item is rated on 4-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 4 strongly agree, with additional "not applicable" option). Higher scores indicate greater patient activation. For the PAM-10, minimum score is 0 (if all not-applicable) and maximum is 40. Raw scores are converted into activation levels per the scoring guidelines by Insignia Health for: level 1 Disengaged and Overwhelmed, level 2 Becoming Aware but Still Struggling, level 3 Taking Action and Gaining Control, level 4 Maintaining "Behaviors and Pushing Further. Scores for each group will be averaged at 3 months after study enrollment.	3-months post-enrollment
Patient activation using the "Patient Activation Measure" survey	Each patient will receive a validated patient activation survey using the "Patient Activation Measure" at enrollment and 6 months after study enrollment. This is a validated measure from Insignia Health. Responses are: disagree strongly, disagree, agree, agree strongly with higher activation correlated with responses of agree and agree strongly. Each item is rated on 4-point scale (1 strongly disagree to 4 strongly agree, with additional "not applicable" option). Higher scores indicate greater patient activation. For the PAM-10, minimum score is 0 (if all not-applicable) and maximum is 40. Raw scores are converted into activation levels per the scoring guidelines by Insignia Health for: level 1 Disengaged and Overwhelmed, level 2 Becoming Aware but Still Struggling, level 3 Taking Action and Gaining Control, level 4 Maintaining "Behaviors and Pushing Further. Scores for each group will be averaged at 6 months after study enrollment.	6-months post-enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quality of shared decision-making using the "Shared Decision Making" questionnaire	The SDM-Q-9, a questionnaire assessing patient involvement in shared decision-making (SDM), is scored by summing the responses to its nine items, each on a 6-point Likert scale (0 completely disagree to 5 completely agree). The raw scores range from 0 to 45, with higher scores indicating greater perceived SDM. We will measure the change in shared-decision making at baseline to 3 months.	3-months post-enrollment
Quality of shared decision-making using the "Shared Decision Making" questionnaire	The SDM-Q-9, a questionnaire assessing patient involvement in shared decision-making (SDM), is scored by summing the responses to its nine items, each on a 6-point Likert scale (0 completely disagree to 5 completely agree). The raw scores range from 0 to 45, with higher scores indicating greater perceived SDM. We will measure the change in shared-decision making at baseline to 6 months.	6-months post-enrollment
Patient Quality of Life Using the "Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Survey"	Each patient will the validated "Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Survey (FACT-G)," which is a 27-item survey with response options including: not at all, a little bit, somewhat, quite a bit, or very much. Five items also allow for a response of 'prefer not to answer.' Scoring for the FACT-G will be done in accordance with the FACT-G Scoring Guidelines (Version 4), available here: https://www.facit.org/measures-scoring-downloads/fact-g-scoring-downloads. In summary, scoring is for four subscales included within the survey, including (1) Physical Well-Being (score range: 0-28), (2) Social Family Well-Being (score range: 0-28), (3) Emotional Well-Being (score range: 0-24), and (4) Functional Well-Being (score range: 0-28). A total score is created from the sum of the subscale scores and has a minimum of zero and maximum of 108, where a higher score indicates greater quality of life. We will measure the change in quality of life at baseline to 3 months.	3-months post-enrollment
Patient Quality of Life Using the "Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Survey"	Each patient will the validated "Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General Survey (FACT-G)," which is a 27-item survey with response options including: not at all, a little bit, somewhat, quite a bit, or very much. Five items also allow for a response of 'prefer not to answer.' Scoring for the FACT-G will be done in accordance with the FACT-G Scoring Guidelines (Version 4), available here: https://www.facit.org/measures-scoring-downloads/fact-g-scoring-downloads. In summary, scoring is for four subscales included within the survey, including (1) Physical Well-Being (score range: 0-28), (2) Social Family Well-Being (score range: 0-28), (3) Emotional Well-Being (score range: 0-24), and (4) Functional Well-Being (score range: 0-28). A total score is created from the sum of the subscale scores and has a minimum of zero and maximum of 108, where a higher score indicates greater quality of life. We will measure the change in quality of life at baseline to 6 months.	6-months post-enrollment
Feeling Heart and Understood Using the "Ambulatory Palliative Care Patients' Experience of Feeling Heard and Understood"	The "Feeling Heard and Understood" Survey is a self-report instrument designed to assess participants' subjective experiences of being listened to and understood in clinical care settings. The survey consists of Likert-scale items that capture the quality and emotional impact of these experiences. Participants rate statements on a 5-point scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." Composite scores are calculated by averaging item responses, with higher scores indicating a greater perceived sense of being heard and understood. We will measure the change in feeling heard and understood at baseline to 3 months.	3-months post-enrollment
Feeling Heart and Understood Using the "Ambulatory Palliative Care Patients' Experience of Feeling Heard and Understood"	The "Feeling Heard and Understood" Survey is a self-report instrument designed to assess participants' subjective experiences of being listened to and understood in clinical care settings. The survey consists of Likert-scale items that capture the quality and emotional impact of these experiences. Participants rate statements on a 5-point scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." Composite scores are calculated by averaging item responses, with higher scores indicating a greater perceived sense of being heard and understood. We will measure the change in feeling heard and understood at baseline to 6 months.	6-months post-enrollment
Preference-Concordant Care using the "Preference Concordant Care" Survey	The Preference Concordant Care survey is a patient-reported instrument designed to assess the extent to which healthcare delivery aligns with a patient's individual preferences, values, and goals of care. The tool utilized Likert-style questions to evaluate six key domains: understanding of preferences, alignment of care, communication, provider advocacy, outcome satisfaction, and responsiveness to changes in patient values over time. Higher scores across domains indicate stronger alignment of care with the patient's stated preferences. We will measure the change in preference-concordant care at baseline to 3 months.	3-months post-enrollment
Preference-Concordant Care using the "Preference Concordant Care" Survey	The Preference Concordant Care survey is a patient-reported instrument designed to assess the extent to which healthcare delivery aligns with a patient's individual preferences, values, and goals of care. The tool utilized Likert-style questions to evaluate six key domains: understanding of preferences, alignment of care, communication, provider advocacy, outcome satisfaction, and responsiveness to changes in patient values over time. Higher scores across domains indicate stronger alignment of care with the patient's stated preferences. We will measure the change in preference-concordant care at baseline to 6 months.	6-months post-enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Stanford University
• Collaborators: Gilead Sciences

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): June 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Goals of care; Advanced care planning
• Other Study ID Numbers: 80353

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Study data will not be shared with researchers outside of this project.

Drug and device information, study documents

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