Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Help Fatigue and Caregiver Burden in Advanced GI Cancer
Official title: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Patient Fatigue Interference and Caregiver Burden in Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancer
Funded at Indiana University Indianapolis · NIH-11330492 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A patient-facing trial will test a telephone-based therapy to help people with advanced gastrointestinal cancer manage fatigue and reduce the stress on their family caregivers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Indiana University Indianapolis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Indianapolis, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $617,841 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA289486-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11330492 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults 21 years or older with advanced gastrointestinal cancer experiencing moderate to severe fatigue interference and their primary family caregivers.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without significant fatigue interference or without a caregiver burden component may experience limited benefit.
What this research studies
This project builds on a previous pilot showing that a home-based ACT program can help patients and their caregivers cope with fatigue and burden. It uses telephone sessions to teach mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based activities to improve daily functioning. About 244 patient-caregiver pairs will be randomly assigned to the ACT program or a comparison condition to see if fatigue interference and caregiver strain improve over time.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this intervention could reduce fatigue-related disruption in daily life and ease caregiver stress.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier pilot work showed feasibility and promise for reducing fatigue interference and caregiver burden using dyadic ACT.
Where this research is happening
-
Indiana University Indianapolis
Indianapolis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mosher, Catherine E — Indiana University Indianapolis
- Study coordinator: Mosher, Catherine E
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Helping advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their caregivers manage fatigue and stress
This study is looking at how a special therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help people with advanced gastrointestinal cancer feel less tired and improve their overall well-being, while also supporting their family caregivers who may be feeling overwhelmed. The program includes helpful phone calls
-
CareVirtue Nexus: AI assistant and streamlined workflow for adult day services helping caregivers of people with dementia
An AI-powered voice assistant and simple workflow tool is being tested to help adult day services communicate with family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and related dementias, making service matching easier and workflow smoother.
-
LifeBioTALK: tablet avatar conversations to engage people with Alzheimer's and ease caregiver stress
A tablet app uses a human-like avatar to speak, show videos, and interact with people living with Alzheimer's to reduce loneliness and make caregiving easier.
-
SAGE LEAF 2: Online positive-emotion program to ease Alzheimer's caregiver burden
An online self-guided program that helps people caring for someone with Alzheimer's build positive-emotion skills to reduce stress and loneliness.
-
Training community health workers to support male caregivers of older adults
This study is testing a new training program for community health workers to help them better support Black and Latino men who care for older adults, making it easier for these caregivers to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
-
Improving living conditions to help older adults and their caregivers
This study looks at how living in run-down homes makes it harder for older adults to do everyday tasks and how it affects their caregivers, with the hope of finding ways to improve their living situations and make life easier for everyone involved.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.