Effects of a Family-centered Early Palliative Care Intervention on the Mental Health and Quality of Life in Patients With Advanced Cancer and Their Caregivers

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the effectiveness of family-centered early palliative care on emotional well-being and quality of life for Chinese advanced cancer (AC) and their caregivers (CGs). METHODS: Involving 104 AC (including lung, breast, and colon) and CGs, a remote randomized controlled trial was undertaken. Patients and CGs randomly assigned in pairs to either an intervention group (IG) (n=52) or a control group (n=52). While both groups underwent 4 weeks of health education, the IG also received 4 weeks of early palliative care. Various scales, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Connor Davidson Resilience Scale, Benefit Discovery Rating Scale, Caregiver Positive Feelings Scale, Functional Evaluation of Cancer Therapy Scale, and Caregiver Quality of Life (QoL) Scale, were applied to assess anxiety, depression, resilience, benefit discovery, and QoL at baseline (T1), immediately after the intervention (T2), and one month following the intervention (T3) for patients and CGs, respectively. RESULTS: At T2 and T3, the patients in the IG exhibited significantly higher resilience, benefit discovery, QoL, and lower anxiety and depression compared to the control group ( P