Palliative Care
Access and Outcomes
Dignity, Legacy, Advocacy, and Support for Individuals with Advanced Cancer (DOULAS-AC)
Dr. Rosenzweig and her team will lead the piloting of a novel program based on a non-medical doula model of care to extend and reimagine supportive care for Black individuals living with advanced cancer. Components of the DOULAS-AC program that are not currently offered through available resources include ongoing emotional and practical support during active … Read more
Developing a Behavioral Intervention to Improve Coping Among Family Caregivers of Children with Medical Complexity (CMC)
In this pilot study, Dr. Yu will use qualitative and human-centered design methodology to develop a behavioral intervention that improves CMC caregivers’ ability to cope with stress. Click here for more information. (Funding Source: National Palliative Research Center (NPCRC) Kornfeld Scholars Program Award)
The Influence of Life Stress on Advanced Lung Cancer Outcomes (L-SOALCO)
Dr. Rosenzweig leads this longitudinal, descriptive study measures deep baseline phenotype including lifetime stress and racism, allostatic load, and stress cytokines against outcomes of symptom experience, management, and dose intensity according to race, income, and geography in advanced-stage lung cancer. (Funding Source: Genetech 2020 Health Equity Innovations Fund)
Randomized Trial of a Scalable, Interactive Tool to Support Surrogate Decision-Makers of Elderly Critically Ill Patients
The goal of this randomized control trial, led by Dr. Douglas White, is to conduct an appropriately powered randomized clinical trial of the Family Support Tool (FST) intervention among the surrogates of critically ill older adults to determine the effects of the FST on patients’ clinical outcomes, surrogates’ psychological outcomes, measures of decision quality, and … Read more
Impact of Lifetime Stress, Racism & Neighborhood Deprivation on Outcomes of NSCLC
In this mixed methods approach, Dr. Rosenzweig and her team will quantify how social, cultural and physical factors including race, racism, poverty, trauma and neighborhood deprivation comprising allostatic load influences subsequent NSCLC disease outcomes directly or are moderated through patient physical, emotional and financial distress. This examination provides risk metrics and patient voice for the … Read more
The Breast Cancer Treatment Symptom Experience, Management and Outcomes According to Race (SEMOARS) Study
In this is a multi-site descriptive study Dr. Rosenzweig and her team will compare the chemotherapy symptom experience, management and dose intensity received/prescribed according to race. Genetics, epigenetics, and pharmacogenomics are areas of further exploration. Click here for more information. (Funding Source: NIH/NIMHD Grant R01MD012245) Project-related publications Symptom Experience, Management, and Outcomes According to Race … Read more
A Cluster Randomized Trial of a Primary Palliative Care Intervention (CONNECT) for Patients with Advanced Cancer
Dr. Schenker and her team are currently analyzing data from this cluster randomized trial of an oncology nurse-led primary palliative care intervention, which enrolled 672 patients with advanced solid-tumor cancers and their 441 caregivers across 17 UPMC community oncology practices. Project-related publications Effect of an Oncology Nurse–Led Primary Palliative Care Intervention on Patients With Advanced … Read more
Concurrent Dialysis-Hospice Program Study
Through this mixed methods pilot study, Dr. Schell and her team will assess perceptions of involvement in an existing Concurrent Dialysis Hospice Care program among the patients, family caregivers, and clinicians who provided the care. Specifically, they aim to 1) describe a proof-of-concept, single-site (UPMC Family Hospice) concurrent hospice-dialysis program in collaboration with a non-profit … Read more
Palliative Care Technological Extension and Assistance in the Community for Healthcare Outcomes in Western PA (Pal-TEACH)
Using implementation science methods and human-centered design, Drs. Schenker and Arnold and their team will develop, implement, and evaluate a telehealth delivery model that extends the reach of UPMC Pittsburgh-based palliative care specialists to rural and underserved community oncology clinics throughout Western Pennsylvania. (Funding Source: McElhattan Foundation)