On Our Own Terms: A Lay Health Advisor Pilot Study

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的试点研究将设计和测试Lay Health Advisor干预的可行性，总体目标是改善非裔美国癌症患者的疼痛和痛苦治疗。为了实现这一目标，我们将利用北卡罗来纳大学医学院和邵逸夫大学之间成功的研究伙伴关系，邵逸夫大学是一所历史悠久的黑人大学。一个在姑息治疗和社区研究方面具有专业知识的跨学科教员小组将从6个非裔美国教堂招募30名姑息治疗服务健康顾问(PCLHA)。PCLHA将接受三个内容领域的培训-姑息治疗、精神护理给予和业馀健康顾问技能。然后，CLHA将与60名非裔美国癌症患者配对，提供有关疼痛和症状管理的咨询、当地姑息治疗资源和精神护理。 这项建议的具体目标是：1.探索现有的生命末期生活质量测量(QUAL-E)在非裔美国人癌症患者和家庭照顾者焦点群体中的可接受性和全面性；2.测试从非裔美国教会招募和培训姑息关怀生活健康顾问的拟议方法的可行性；3.测试将姑息关怀生活健康顾问与患有疼痛和癌症的非裔美国人配对的可行性；以及4.描述姑息关怀生活健康顾问对这些癌症患者的影响： A)了解疼痛和症状治疗提供者的知识； B)就维持生命的治疗选择进行沟通， C)生活质量；以及 D)认为治疗痛苦和苦难的需求尚未得到满足。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed pilot study will design and test the feasibility of a Lay Health Advisor intervention with the overall objective of improving treatment for pain and suffering for African American patients with cancer. To achieve this objective, we will utilize a successful research partnership between the UNC-CH School of Medicine and Shaw University, a historically black university. An interdisciplinary group of faculty with expertise in palliative care and in community-based research will recruit 30 Palliative Care Lay Health Advisors (PCLHA) from 6 African American churches. PCLHA will receive training in 3 content areas - palliative care, spiritual care giving, and lay health advisor skills. CLHA will then be paired with 60 African American cancer patients to provide counseling about pain and symptom management, local palliative care resources and spiritual care. Specific aims of this proposal are: 1. To explore the acceptability and comprehensiveness of an existing measure of quality of life at the end of life (QUAL-E) in focus groups of African-American cancer patients and family caregivers, 2. To test the feasibility of proposed methods for recruiting and training Palliative Care Lay Health Advisors from African-American churches, 3. To test the feasibility of proposed methods for pairing Palliative Care Lay Health Advisors with African-American patients with pain and suffering from cancer, and 4. To describe the impact of Palliative Care Lay Health Advisors on these cancer patients': a) knowledge of providers of pain and symptom treatment, b) communication about life-sustaining treatment choices, c) quality of life, and d) perceived unmet need for treatment of pain and suffering.