Psycho-oncology on wheels—a qualitative feasibility study of implementing home-based psychosocial support within specialist palliative home care (SPHC): a study protocol

BACKGROUND: Psycho-oncological support is crucial for palliative cancer patients and their families, helping them to cope with psychosocial distress. Currently, this support is most often provided in inpatient settings or during regular outpatient appointments. A decline in general health and the cessation of tumour-specific treatment often lead to an abrupt end of the established therapeutic relationship, creating a gap in care precisely when patients and their families face a particularly burdensome situation. Specialist palliative home care (SPHC) offers comprehensive physical and psychosocial support within a home-based environment. This project aims to investigate whether pre-existing psycho-oncological care can be continued and integrated into home care with the help of SPHC logistics, focusing on feasibility and implementation. Therefore, psycho-oncologists who typically provide care for patients in a clinical setting will perform home visits for palliative cancer patients. METHODS: Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with patients, their relatives, psycho-oncologists, and SPHC staff to assess the feasibility of providing home-based psycho-oncological care. The interviews will explore factors such as the acceptability, satisfaction, and practicability of the intervention, while also identifying key facilitators and barriers to successful implementation. DISCUSSION: By identifying facilitating and hindering factors, this study aims to determine how home-based psycho-oncological care can be implemented successfully using SPHC infrastructure. The findings can contribute to advancing research on appropriate psycho-oncological care for palliative patients in their homes and to establishing corresponding care structures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at German Clinical Trials Register, ID: DRKS00034896.