Chaplain-Delivered Compassion Meditation to Improve Spiritual Care of Patients Receiving Stem Cell Transplantation

NCT ID: NCT06328699

Last Updated: 2025-08-15

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 50 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-10-30
• Study Completion Date: 2026-11-15

Brief Summary

This clinical trial tests the feasibility, implementation and acceptability of chaplain delivered compassion meditation in order to improve spiritual care for patients receiving stem cell transplantation. Hospital chaplains play a vital role in delivering emotional and spiritual care to a broad range of both religious and non-religious patients for a wide variety of stressors, and extensive research indicates that spiritual consults impact patient outcomes and satisfaction. Compassion meditation is a secularized, research-based mindfulness and compassion meditation program designed to expand and strengthen compassion for self and others. Practices include training in attentional stability and increased emotional awareness, as well as targeted reflections to appreciate one's relationship with self and others. By centering the mind, controlling debilitating ruminative thoughts, and cultivating personal resiliency and an inclusive and more accurate understanding of others. Engaging in chaplain delivered compassion meditation may improve the spiritual care for patients receiving stem cell transplantation.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To examine the feasibility, adoption, extent of implementation, acceptability and fidelity of chaplain-delivered compassion-centered spiritual health (CCSH).

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients receive chaplain-led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions over 30 minutes, twice per week for up to 2 weeks.

ARM II: Patients receive a traditional chaplain consultation and care upon request, per standard of care.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 80-100 days and 6 months post treatment.

Conditions

Lymphoma; Multiple Myeloma

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Arm I (Chaplain delivered compassion meditation)

Patients receive chaplain led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions over 30 minutes, twice per week for up to 2 weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Spiritual Therapy

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Undergo chaplain led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions

Arm II (Traditional chaplain consultation)

Patients receive a traditional chaplain consultation and care upon request, per standard of care.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Best Practice

Intervention Type: OTHER

Receive a traditional chaplain consultation and will receive care upon request

Interventions

Spiritual Therapy

Undergo chaplain led compassionate centered spiritual health sessions

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Best Practice

Receive a traditional chaplain consultation and will receive care upon request

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

best practice, standard of care, standard of care, standard therapy

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• PATIENT: Within 6 weeks of scheduled hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)
• PATIENT: > 18 years of age
• PATIENT: Speak and read English
• CHAPLAIN: Emory Healthcare chaplain

Exclusion Criteria

• PATIENT: Patients will be excluded if they are cognitively impaired, on a ventilator, or are in a room requiring enteric precautions or airborne precautions (e.g., use of an N-95 mask requiring fit-testing) to enter

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Emory University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jennifer Mascaro

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

EU6011-23

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

K01AT010488

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

P30CA138292

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

STUDY00006456

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id