Clinical trial · Interventional
Mobile Health Application for Family Caregivers in Home Palliative Care
Effectiveness of a Mobile Health Application for Family Caregivers of Patients Receiving Home Palliative Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- 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)
Family caregivers play a central role in providing daily care for patients receiving home palliative care. However, caregiving responsibilities may lead to increased burden, stress, and difficulties in symptom management and care coordination. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions may provide accessible education, symptom monitoring, and decision-support resources to improve caregiver outcomes and patient care. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile health application developed for family caregivers of patients receiving home palliative care. The primary outcome is caregiver competence. Secondary outcomes include caregiver burden, self-efficacy, patient symptom burden, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. A total of 120 family caregivers will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group, which will use the mobile health application for 6 weeks in addition to usual care, or the control group, which will receive usual care alone. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention (Week 6), and follow-up (Week 18).
Conditions
Conditions (3)
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 | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Caregiver | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Palliative Care | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Health Application | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Mobile Health Application Plus Usual Care
- description
- Participants will receive access to a mobile health application designed for family caregivers of patients receiving home palliative care in addition to routine home palliative care services. The intervention will be delivered for 6 weeks and includes educational content, symptom management support, caregiver self-care resources, medication management guidance, and healthcare utilization decision support.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Mobile Health Application
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Usual Care Alone
- description
- Participants will receive routine home palliative care services provided by the home care unit. No mobile health application or additional structured intervention will be provided during the study period.
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Care Competency Scale for Family Caregivers in Home Palliative Care
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Family caregiver of a patient receiving home palliative care services. * Aged 18 years or older. * Providing unpaid care to the patient for at least 3 months. * Able to read and understand Turkish. * Owns or has regular access to a smartphone compatible with the mobile application. * Willing to participate and provide written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Professional or paid caregivers. * Participation in another structured caregiver support program during the study period. * Cognitive, visual, or hearing impairments that would prevent effective use of the mobile application. * Inability to complete study assessments. * Withdrawal of consent at any stage of the study.
References
Publications (3)
- BACKGROUNDKelley MM, Powell T, Camara D, Shah N, Norton JM, Deitelzweig C, Vaidy N, Hsiao CJ, Wang J, Bierman AS. Mobile Health Apps, Family Caregivers, and Care Planning: Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res. 2024 May 23;26:e46108. doi: 10.2196/46108. PMID 38781588
- BACKGROUNDYang X, Li X, Jiang S, Yu X. Effects of Telemedicine on Informal Caregivers of Patients in Palliative Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2024 Apr 8;12:e54244. doi: 10.2196/54244. PMID 38602303
- BACKGROUNDYu Y, Xue H, Suo C, Wang H, Pang Y, Ji C, Hou W, Lu Y, Lu D, Sang L, Xu J, Li C, Jin L, Shi L, Zhang J, Liang J, Zhao W, Chen X. Palliative Care Educational App for Family Caregivers of Homebound Patients With Incurable Cancer : A Single-Center Randomized Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Dec;178(12):1737-1751. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-02346. Epub 2025 Sep 23. PMID 40982976