Clinical trial · Interventional
R21 India Pal-Care Evaluation
Implementation of Home-Based Palliative Care in Limited Resource Settings
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The goal of this pragmatic clinical trial is to test and evaluate a home-based palliative care intervention for utilizing community health workers to facilitate the delivery of palliative care to cancer patients in rural India. The study builds upon use of the World Health Organization-endorsed "Palliative Care Toolkit," which provides a comprehensive suite of evidence-based materials for delivering palliative care in limited resource settings. For the intervention, two specific aims will be addressed to evaluate: 1) implementation of the intervention within the context of the RE-AIM Framework and 2) outcomes of this intervention to determine its relative effects compared to a standard control group on patients' palliative care needs, symptom burden, quality of life (QOL) and experience with care.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer Palliative Care | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control-Usual Care | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Pal-Care | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Control
- description
- Control group participants will be recruited from the cancer patients in need of palliative care at Tata Medical Center (TMC), Kolkata, India. Participants will be recruited and consented by TMC researchers. There will be random allocation to the "control" or "Pal-Care" group. The control group (n=45) will receive "usual care" palliative services in which the patient or caregiver (by proxy) must visit the Tata Medical Center (TMC) cancer center for care. TMC services include consultation with a multi-disciplinary team (oncologist, nurse, psychologist), a 21-day morphine supply at reduced cost (as morphine is regulated in use),basic training on medication usage, catheter and wound care, other topics as relevant,and psychological counseling. Patients (or their proxy) must return to the cancer center as needed for follow up care and they are provided a 24/7 hotline to call in case of emergency.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Control-Usual Care
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Pal-Care
- description
- Intervention group participants will be recruited from cancer patients in need of palliative care at Tata Medical Center (TMC), Kolkata, India. Pal-Care will be delivered over a 6-month period. At baseline visit, the patient and their caregiver will meet with their community health worker (CHW) and clinical team and an individualized care plan will be created. Patients will be assigned to the CHW living nearest to their home. The CHW will make home visits to patients 1+ times weekly, depending on patient need. At each visit, the CHW will use resources from the WHO Palliative Care Toolkit to: 1)monitor patient condition, 2) provide basic palliative care (medication administration, wound care, catheter care), 3) deliver prescribed morphine, 4) teach caregivers to deliver care,5) monitor pain and symptom control, and 6) assist patients to access their oncologists and other resources. Timely communication between CHW and clinical team will be maintained using a tele-health platform.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 85 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Adults ages 18 years and over, any cancer type, late state cancer, residence in 24 Parganas Region, West Bengal, India, physician documentation in medical record that patient is to receive palliative care, patient willingness to participate in data collection. Exclusion Criteria: * Prisoner; diagnoses of substance addiction (illicit drugs), Mentally unstable or having moderate to severe mental health issue or incapable of decision making, Unable to speak or communicate with ease
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDQanungo S, Cartmell KB, Mueller M, Butcher M, Sarkar S, Carlson TG, Madisetti M, Kumar G. Comparison of home-based palliative care delivered by community health workers versus usual care: research protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. BMC Palliat Care. 2023 Sep 2;22(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12904-023-01235-z. PMID 37658397