Community Health Worker Based Intervention to Improve Palliative Care

Community Health Worker Based Intervention to Improve Palliative Care

The study aims to find out if community health worker (CHW) support will improve palliative care outcomes in African American patients with advanced cancer, by comparing the quality of life of patients who are receiving standard care to those whose standard care is supplemented with CHW support.

This research is being done to establish the effectiveness of a Community Health Worker based palliative care intervention among African American patients with advanced solid organ malignancies and their care givers.

The investigators' long-term goal is to reduce the research-to-practice gap in utilization of evidence-based palliative care (PC) in African Americans with advanced cancer. The objectives of this study are to establish the effectiveness of a CHW-based palliative care intervention and develop generalizable knowledge on how contextual factors influence implementation.

Patient Inclusion Criteria:

• Self-identified African American patients with advanced (AJCC stage III or IV) solid organ malignancy
• >=18 years old
• English speaking
• Intact cognition and ability to provide informed consent

Patient Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants < 18 years of age
• Participants who are already receiving palliative care services

Caregiver Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult (>=18 years old) caregivers providing informal (unpaid) care to an eligible African American cancer patient (related or unrelated)
• English speaking
• Intact cognition and ability to provide informed consent

Caregiver Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants < 18 years of age