PLAN Intervention to Enhance Engagement of Latino Cancer Patients in Advanced Care Planning

Latinos' Beliefs and Communication About Advance Care Planning

This trial tests whether Planning for Your Advance Care Needs (PLAN) intervention works to enhance Latino patients' understanding of and engagement in advanced care planning. The PLAN intervention may be an effective method to help people with cancer plan for and talk about advance care planning (the care they would want if they were unable to communicate) with their loved ones and doctors.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients participate in PLAN intervention, consisting of 3 coaching sessions over 45-60 minutes each with a health coach.

ARM II: Patients receive usual care.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 1 week and then at 3 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Identifying ethnically as Latino.
• Locally advanced or metastatic cancer and/or have experienced disease progression on at least first-line chemotherapy.
• Ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not fluent in English or Spanish.
• Severely cognitively impaired (as measured by Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire scores of >= 6 to be delivered by trained study research staff during screening).
• Too ill or weak to complete the interviews (as judged by interviewer).
• Currently receiving palliative care/hospice at the time of enrollment (to allow prediction of [advanced care planning] ACP).
• Children and young adults under age 18.
• Patients deemed inappropriate for the study by their treating oncologist.