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. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21NR009785-02
Application #
7121810
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1-SRRB-3 (M1))
Program Officer
Cotton, Paul
Project Start
2005-09-12
Project End
2008-08-31
Budget Start
2006-09-01
Budget End
2008-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$161,257
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Green, Melissa A; Lucas, Justin; Hanson, Laura C et al. (2014) Carrying the burden: perspectives of African American pastors on peer support for people with cancer. J Relig Health 53:1382-97
Hanson, Laura C; Green, Melissa A; Hayes, Michelle et al. (2014) Circles of Care: Implementation and Evaluation of Support Teams for African Americans With Cancer. Health Educ Behav 41:291-8
Jackson, LeRon C; Hanson, Laura C; Hayes, Michelle et al. (2014) They lift my spirit up: stakeholders' perspectives on support teams for African Americans facing serious illness. Health Educ Behav 41:599-604
Hanson, Laura C; Armstrong, Tonya D; Green, Melissa A et al. (2013) Circles of care: development and initial evaluation of a peer support model for African Americans with advanced cancer. Health Educ Behav 40:536-43
Hanson, Laura C (2009) Improving access and quality of care for African Americans with advanced cancer. N C Med J 70:155-8
Williams, Sharon W; Hanson, Laura C; Boyd, Carlton et al. (2008) Communication, decision making, and cancer: what African Americans want physicians to know. J Palliat Med 11:1221-6