Montrose

Researchers are evaluating whether the CARES (Cancer Advocacy, Resources, Education and Support) intervention can shorten the time it takes for rural patients with solid tumors to start and complete treatment. This study focuses on cancers such as lung, head and neck, thyroid, cervical, breast, bladder, colon, and rectal cancers. It aims to improve the quality of care and patient-reported outcomes by providing additional support to these patients living in rural areas. The study is randomized and will enroll 320 participants who will be assigned either to the CARES intervention or to usual care. The CARES intervention involves up to 10 navigation sessions and 10 counseling sessions over about six months, delivered by oncology nurse navigators and master's level counselors. These sessions are scheduled around key treatment transition points and may be conducted in person, virtually, or by phone. Participants in the usual care group will receive a standardized list of resources. Treatment progress and support sessions are tailored to each patient's treatment timeline. Participants will complete surveys at the start, at three months, and after six months to assess quality of care and patient-reported outcomes. The study measures the time from diagnosis to treatment start and the time to treatment completion within the six-month study period. Researchers will monitor participants throughout the study to understand how the CARES intervention affects treatment timing and patient experiences compared to usual care.

Researchers are evaluating ways to improve advance care planning (ACP) among underserved communities, who often receive lower quality end-of-life care and unwanted, costly treatments. This study compares two conversation-based tools designed to encourage discussions about end-of-life wishes and motivate ACP behaviors. The goal is to increase high-quality end-of-life care, reduce health disparities, and lessen unnecessary suffering for patients and families. The study is a cluster randomized controlled trial involving 75 underserved communities across the US. It compares a serious conversation game called Hello, the widely used Conversation Project (CP) Starter Kit, and usual care where only an advance directive is distributed. The Hello game has 32 questions prompting sharing of values and beliefs about end-of-life issues, while the CP Starter Kit is a workbook with prompts and resources to facilitate conversations. The third group receives a general conversation game called Table Topics. Participants include adults from underserved populations who have not completed an advance directive in the past 5 years. Researchers will assess completion of a visually verified advance directive six months after the intervention. Other ACP behaviors will also be measured. The study involves community events, follow-up, and data collection to understand which tools best engage underserved groups in ACP and improve end-of-life care outcomes.