Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) Training

Conditions

• Lung Cancer

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - 100 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) training — BEHAVIORAL
  The overall training goal of this 2.25 hour module ECS module is to enhance OCP recognition and responsiveness to lung cancer patients' empathic opportunities by communicating understanding, alleviating stigma and distress, and providing support. The ECS training also provides tools to OCPs to buffer/inoculate patients against stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors by others such that lung cancer patients who currently or formerly smoked can be given "small doses" of an opposing viewpoint (termed as "preparing patients for recurring smoking questions") and suggestions of "counterarguments" in order to make them resistant to future stigmatizing attacks by others
• Standard of Care participant interaction — OTHER
  Standard of Care participant interaction

Study Details

Research indicates that perceived stigma within medical encounters is prevalent and problematic for lung cancer patients' well-being and quality of cancer care. Promoting empathic communication appears to be a potentially effective intervention target to help reduce patients' perceptions of stigma within clinical encounters; however, no formal trainings exist that focus on teaching empathic communication to oncology care providers (OCPs). Building upon favorable findings from a prior R21 (R21CA202793) and the importance of developing interventions to address lung cancer stigma, our goal is to conduct a national trial of empathic communication skills (ECS) training to facilitate improvements in the medical and psychosocial care of patients through de-stigmatizing interactions with OCPs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.

Key Dates

Start date

Apr 28, 2023

Status verified

Mar 2026

Primary completion

Aug 31, 2026

Completion

Aug 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

1,232 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

OTHER

Arms

• Experimental: Oncology Care Providers/OCP-intervention group
  Providers participate in Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) training
• Active Comparator: Oncology Care Providers/OCP-control group
  Providers complete all study measures and are offered ECS training after data collection is completed at their site.
• Experimental: Participants with Lung Cancer-intervention group
  Participants will engage with oncology care providers/OCP who have undergone Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) training
• Active Comparator: Participants with Lung Cancer-control group
  Waitlist control group - WLC

Primary Outcome Measure

Uptake of communication skills using standardized patient assessment/SPAs [ Time Frame: 3 months ]

Central Contacts

• Smita Banerjee, PhD
  646-888-0011
  [email protected]
• Jamie Ostroff, PhD
  646-888-0041
  [email protected]

Locations (12)

Find similar trials in Irvine, CA

Related Studies

• Detection of Genetic Markers of Lung Cancer
  Recruiting · University of Pittsburgh · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Lung Cancer Biomarkers and Screening
  Recruiting · NYU Langone Health · New York, New York
• Identification of Secreted Markers for Tumor Hypoxia in Patients With Head and Neck or Lung Cancers
  Recruiting · Stanford University · Stanford, California
• Studying Tumor Tissue Samples and Blood Samples to Learn More About DNA Changes in Patients With Lung Cancer
  Recruiting · University of California, Davis · Sacramento, California