Advance Care Planning: Promoting Effective and Aligned Communication in the Elderly

NCT ID: NCT03609177

Last Updated: 2025-10-21

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

13800 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-04-15

Study Completion Date

2024-09-30

Brief Summary

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In this research study, the investigators are working to help oncologists better serve patients by delivering more patient-centered, goal-concordant care that may improve health care delivery.

\- It is expected that about 30,000 people will take part in this research study, 29,550 of these patients, the vast majority, will be included only for medical record review.

Detailed Description

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The purpose of this study is to improve the quality of care provided to millions of older Americans with cancer. The investigators are working to help oncologists better serve patients by delivering more patient-centered, goal-concordant care that may dramatically improve health care delivery.

This is pragmatic stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (SW-CRT) of a Comprehensive ACP (Advance Care Planning) Program among older oncology patients. The ACP Program will include training clinicians in communication skills and using video decision aids for participants.

\- This study will involve medical record review of 30,000 people age 65 or older with advanced cancer.

We will also recruit 450 eligible patients (150 patients from each of our three sites broken down into 75 patients during the control phase and 75 patients during the intervention phase) to conduct a survey for our secondary patient-centered outcomes (confidence, satisfaction with physician communication, patient decisional satisfaction and regret). From among this sub-group we will engage 240 participants (80 from each of our three sites broken down into 40 patients during the control phase and 40 patients during the intervention phase) in an activity to film video declarations of their preferences.

During the first year, three pilot sites (one at each health care system) will trial the intervention. The subjects recruited at these pilot sites will not be included in the final analysis. Thus, the main trial will begin during year 2 and continue through year 5 with recruitment of 30,000 subjects for the primary outcome at 30 oncology clinics. The first year pilot will serve to inform the larger roll-out and the intervention may change during the first year based on pilot-clinic experience.

Conditions

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Other Cancer

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Advance Care Planning

-Survey:

* A group of older patients with advanced cancer (N=450) will have a survey over the course of the 36 months of recruitment.
* Participants will be provided written copies of the questions to follow along during the interviews

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Clinician Communication Skills Training

Intervention Type OTHER

Communication skills training

Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions Videos Decisions Aids

Intervention Type OTHER

ACP Decisions video decision aids

Advance Care Planning-Video Declaration

Video Declaration:

* From among this group of 450 participants, the video declaration of preferences activity will be conducted with 240 patients.
* For those participants that agree to the video declaration, they will proceed with recording of their video declarations
* The RA will begin by reading a standardized introduction to aid the subject do the video

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Clinician Communication Skills Training

Intervention Type OTHER

Communication skills training

Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions Videos Decisions Aids

Intervention Type OTHER

ACP Decisions video decision aids

Video Declarations (ViDec)

Intervention Type OTHER

Recording of patient advance care planning videos

Comprehensive Record Review of ACP

* A review of Medical orders for resuscitation preferences in the electronic health record
* A review of Medical orders for Palliative care consultations preferences in the electronic health record
* A review of Medical orders for Hospice use preferences in the electronic health record

Group Type OTHER

Clinician Communication Skills Training

Intervention Type OTHER

Communication skills training

Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions Videos Decisions Aids

Intervention Type OTHER

ACP Decisions video decision aids

Video Declarations (ViDec)

Intervention Type OTHER

Recording of patient advance care planning videos

Main Study Arm

Patients with cancer being seen at the 30 oncology clinics will be exposed to clinicians who have had communication skills training (Vital Talk) and who are using video decision aids (ACP Decisions). Our main outcome is advance care planning documentation.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Clinician Communication Skills Training

Intervention Type OTHER

Communication skills training

Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions Videos Decisions Aids

Intervention Type OTHER

ACP Decisions video decision aids

Video Declarations (ViDec)

Intervention Type OTHER

Recording of patient advance care planning videos

Interventions

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Clinician Communication Skills Training

Communication skills training

Intervention Type OTHER

Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions Videos Decisions Aids

ACP Decisions video decision aids

Intervention Type OTHER

Video Declarations (ViDec)

Recording of patient advance care planning videos

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Vital Talk Communication Skills Training

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

Clinic eligibility criteria include:

* More than one oncologist
* Serve a patient population that is at least 30% aged 65 or older
* Disease-based oncology clinic

Subject Eligibility: (for the in-person surveys):

\- Any patient affiliated with one of the study clinics who speaks English and is aged 65 or older with advanced cancer is eligible for participation. Advanced cancer is defined as metastatic disease for solid tumors and recurrent or refractory disease for hematological malignancies. There are no exclusions based on gender, race, or ethnicity.

Exclusion Criteria

* Adults unable to consent
* Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers)
* Pregnant women
* Prisoners
Minimum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Boston Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Northwell Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Mayo Clinic

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Duke University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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James A. Tulsky

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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James A. Tulsky, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Locations

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Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Site Status

Northwell Health

New Hyde Park, New York, United States

Site Status

Duke Health

Durham, North Carolina, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Volandes AE, Chang Y, Lakin JR, Paasche-Orlow MK, Lindvall C, Zupanc SN, Martins-Welch D, Carney MT, Burns EA, Itty J, Emmert-Tangredi K, Martin NJ, Sanghani S, Tilburt J, Pollak KI, Davis AD, Garde C, Barry MJ, El-Jawahri A, Quintiliani L, Sciacca K, Goldman J, Tulsky JA. An Intervention to Increase Advance Care Planning Among Older Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 May 1;8(5):e259150. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.9150.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 40343696 (View on PubMed)

Lakin JR, Gundersen DA, Lindvall C, Paasche-Orlow MK, Tulsky JA, Brannen EN, Pollak KI, Kennedy D, McLeggon JA, Stout JJ, Volandes A; ACP-PEACE Investigators. A Yet Unrealized Promise: Structured Advance Care Planning Elements in the Electronic Health Record. J Palliat Med. 2021 Aug;24(8):1221-1225. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0774. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33826860 (View on PubMed)

Lakin JR, Brannen EN, Tulsky JA, Paasche-Orlow MK, Lindvall C, Chang Y, Gundersen DA, El-Jawahri A, Volandes A; ACP-PEACE Investigators. Advance Care Planning: Promoting Effective and Aligned Communication in the Elderly (ACP-PEACE): the study protocol for a pragmatic stepped-wedge trial of older patients with cancer. BMJ Open. 2020 Jul 14;10(7):e040999. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040999.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32665394 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

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UG3AG060626

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

18-276

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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