NCT00580515Completed
Trial of Family Focused Grief Therapy in Palliative Care and Bereavement
Randomized Controlled Trial of Family Focused Grief Therapy in Palliative Care and Bereavement
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 13 Mar 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
The purpose of this study is to learn how well family therapy works if given while a family member is being treated for a serious illness and whether it helps their family to continue meeting for a time after their death. The therapy aims to assist the family communication and support during both palliative care and bereavement. The investigators also want to learn how many family therapy sessions spread out over time are best for helping patients and their families. Patients are randomly assigned to one of three groups: patients who receive standard palliative care, patients and their families who take part in 6 sessions, and patients and their families who take part in 10 sessions.
- Status (registry)
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 700 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 20 Dec 2007
- Start date
- 8 Nov 2005
- Primary completion date
- 11 Mar 2026
- Lead sponsor
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Diseases
- Childhood cancers
- NCT number
- NCT00580515
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 700
- From 8 Nov 2005 to the primary completion date, 11 Mar 2026
- 3 sites in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Other illness
- Significant psychiatric disturbance sufficient, in the investigator's judgment, to preclude participation in a psychotherapeutic intervention.
Age
- Age less than 12 years old for a child.
Other
- Inability through language to complete the study questionnaires - inability to speak English with an English-speaking therapist.
- Patient and family member determined geographical inaccessibility to attend family sessions.
Who the study is looking for
- Subject/Patient Inclusion Criteria
- Individuals with advanced disease/Stage 4-IV cancer who may be involved in palliative care treatment program.
- Individuals with a poor prognosis Patient and Family Member Inclusion Criteria.
- Per investigator's judgment participants must have satisfactory cognitive functioning to provide valid informed consent and participate in family therapy.
- In the event that the index family member is declining or too frail to take part in family meetings, the family is able to participate without the index patient being involved in the study.
- For every enrolled family there must be at least 2 family members willing/able to take part at the time of recruitment.
- The presence of FRI screening scores of ≤ 9 or cohesiveness subscale score \< 4 based on the perception of any single family member, including the patient.
Age in the registry: 12 years to - · Sex: All · Accepts healthy volunteers
Sites (3)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Israel Hospice Program Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | New York | United States | Unknown status |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | New York | United States | Unknown status |
| Calvary Hospital Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | The Bronx | United States | Unknown status |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.