Psycho-Spiritual Support for Patients with Advanced Cancer and Their Family Caregivers
Official title: Psycho-Spiritual Management for Patients with Advanced Cancer and their Family Caregivers
Funded at University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr · NIH-11397692 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A program tests a four-session, family-focused meditation delivered by video to help people with advanced cancer and their caregivers feel less depressive and spiritually distressed.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | September 11, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $663,266 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA276035-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11397692 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers who are experiencing distress and would benefit from mind-body psychosocial support via videoconference.
✕Less likely to help
Some patients and caregivers may not experience significant benefit from this specific intervention or may prefer other forms of support.
What this research studies
This project aims to help patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers experience less depressive symptoms and more spiritual wellbeing through a four-session meditation program delivered via videoconference. Families are randomized to receive the family-focused meditation, usual care, or a time-matched social support control, with outcomes measured to see if the approach improves their well-being. By treating patient and caregiver distress together (a dyadic approach), the study seeks practical, scalable methods that could be used in real-world palliative care settings. The trial will enroll from multiple sites to ensure diverse participants and better generalizability. If successful, the intervention could become an accessible option to support families facing advanced cancer.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients and caregivers could experience reduced distress and better meaning and peace during a challenging cancer journey.
How similar studies have gone: Previous pilot work suggests positive effects of mindfulness- and positive-psychology approaches, but robust dyadic, videoconferenced interventions are still being established.
Where this research is happening
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University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Milbury, Kathrin — University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
- Study coordinator: Milbury, Kathrin
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Helping Advanced Cancer Patients and Families Plan Ahead with a Resilience-Building Web Program
A web-based resilience program is being tested to help people with advanced cancer and their family caregivers have meaningful conversations and complete advance directives.
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Web program to help people with advanced cancer and their caregivers talk about future medical wishes
This project tries a web-based resilience program to help adults with advanced cancer and their family caregivers talk about future care and complete advance directives.
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Caregivers and Patients Support for Advanced Cancer
A doctor-in-training is developing a telehealth five-session program to help patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers manage their psychosocial needs and quality of life.
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Psychospiritual support for people with advanced cancer and their family caregivers
A four-session family-focused meditation program delivered by videoconference aims to help people with advanced cancer and their family caregivers cope with depression and spiritual distress.
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Helping Families Support Loved Ones with Advanced Cancer in Making Health Decisions
This project offers a program to teach family caregivers of people with advanced cancer how to best support their loved ones when making important health choices.
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Early palliative support by trained lay coaches for caregivers of people with advanced cancer
This program offers early palliative support from trained lay coaches to help under-resourced family and friend caregivers of people newly diagnosed with advanced cancer.
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.