RATIONALE: A videotape support program may help families improve communication and coping skills when a parent is diagnosed with cancer. PURPOSE: Randomized trial to study the effectiveness of a video support program for families who have a parent who has been newly diagnosed with cancer. This clinical trial is being conducted at the locations listed below. If you are interested in this clinical trial but unable to visit these locations, please call 1-800-848-3895, extension 226, and ask for more information about the We Can Cope study.

Condition	Treatment or Intervention
psychosocial effects/treatment	Procedure: supportive care  Behavior: supportive care/therapy  Behavior: psychosocial assessment/care

Further Study Details: 

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine if families who participate in a video support program function better as a family in the areas of communication, togetherness, and overall increased ability to cope when a parent is newly diagnosed with cancer. II. Determine if participation in this program decreases stress-related illness in the well members of the family. III. Determine the safety of this program. IV. Determine patient/family and medical provider satisfaction with this program.

PROTOCOL OUTLINE: This a randomized study. Adult parent participants and spouses undergo a baseline assessment over approximately 1 hour comprising completion of a self-assessment form followed by an interview. Families are then randomized to one of two arms. Arm I: Adult parent participants receive a video support program comprising 3 videotapes (parent tape, adolescent tape, and child tape) and a parent guidebook. The parents are encouraged to screen the videotapes and decide whether to have their child and/or adolescent view the program. Arm II: Adult parent participants receive no video support material. Families may view the video program after study completion. Adult parent participants in both arms complete follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 weeks. This clinical trial is being conducted at the locations listed below. If you are interested in this clinical trial but unable to visit these locations, please call #1-800-848-3895 ext. 226 and ask for more information about the We Can Cope study.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 230 families will be accrued for this study.

Criteria

PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA:

--Disease Characteristics--

• Parent with a first diagnosis of cancer within the past 5 years
• No recurrence of a previously diagnosed cancer
• Must have at least 1 child between the ages of 6 and 18
• Ill parent must live with child/children at least 50% of the time
• No plans to move out-of-state within the next 3 months

--Prior/Concurrent Therapy--

• Not specified

--Patient Characteristics--

• Age: See Disease Characteristics; Any age
• Performance status: Not specified
• Life expectancy: Not specified
• Hematopoietic: Not specified
• Hepatic: Not specified
• Renal: Not specified
• Other: No psychotic disorder (such as schizophrenia) or a brain/psychiatric disorder due to disease/illness

Maine
      Maine Center for Cancer Medicine and Blood Disorders, Scarborough,  Maine,  04074,  United States
Massachusetts
      Inflexxion, Newton,  Massachusetts,  02464-1594,  United States
New York
      Albert Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center, Bronx,  New York,  10461,  United States
North Carolina
      Buddy Kemp Caring House, Charlotte,  North Carolina,  28207,  United States
Texas
      Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas,  Texas,  75246,  United States

Study chairs or principal investigators

Jonas I. Bromberg,  Study Chair,  Inflexxion   

Study ID Numbers:  CDR0000068602; ITS-000080; NCI-V01-1659
Record last reviewed:  February 2004
Last Updated:  October 13, 2004
Record first received:  July 11, 2001
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00020553
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-04-08