Trial reportPalliative & supportive care2022
A qualitative exploration of the feasibility and acceptability of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers.
Trial report in Palliative & supportive care, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of meaning-centered interventions on anxiety and depressive symptoms, sense of meaning, and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Benefits of supportive strategies for carers of people with high-grade glioma: a systematic review : Strategies for addressing the needs of high-grade glioma carers.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers: A pilot trial among caregivers of patients with glioblastoma multiforme.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- The effect of tele-interventions on family caregiver burden: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Exploring meaning in culture: Insights from meaning-centered psychotherapy in Aotearoa, New Zealand.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Among Patients with Advanced Cancer and Depression: Rationale and Preliminary Evaluation of MCP-PSIL.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Trials · 2026Article
- Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Research square · 2026Article
- Reporting standards in randomized controlled trials involving neuro-oncology caregivers: A systematic review report from the RANO-Cares working group.Neuro-oncology practice · 2025Article
- Adaptation of meaning-centered psychotherapy for healthcare providers to buffer work-induced distress and improve wellbeing.Translational behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Examining posttraumatic growth among Turkish family caregivers of cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Existential distress in family caregivers: scoping review of meaning-making interventions.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2024Article
- Measuring and understanding death anxiety in caregivers of patients with primary brain tumor.Palliative & supportive care · 2023Article
- Exploring the experience of meaning-centered group psychotherapy among Chinese cancer patients during active treatment: a descriptive qualitative study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- The benefits of concurrent engagement in meaning-centered psychotherapy and meaning-centered psychotherapy for cancer caregivers: A case study.Palliative & supportive care · 2022Article
- The Critical Need for a Meaning-Centered Team-Level Intervention to Address Healthcare Provider Distress Now.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveCaregivers of patients with cancer are at significant risk for existential distress. Such distress negatively impacts caregivers' quality of life and capacity to serve in their role as healthcare proxies, and ultimately, contributes to poor bereavement outcomes. Our team developed Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers (MCP-C), the first targeted psychosocial intervention that directly addresses existential distress in caregivers.
methodNine caregivers of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) enrolled in a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of MCP-C, and completed in-depth interviews about their experience in the therapy. One focus group with three MCP-C interventionists was also completed.
resultsFour key themes emerged from interviews: (1) MCP-C validated caregivers' experience of caregiving; (2) MCP-C helped participants reframe their "caregiving identity" as a facet of their larger self-identity, by placing caregiving in the context of their life's journey; (3) MCP-C enabled caregivers to find ways to assert their agency through caregiving; and (4) the structure and sequence of sessions made MCP-C accessible and feasible. Feedback from interventionists highlighted several potential manual changes and overall ways in which MCP-C can help facilitate caregivers' openness to discussing death and engaging in advanced care planning discussions with the patient. SIGNIFICANCE OF
resultsThe overarching goal of MCP-C is to allow caregivers to concurrently experience meaning and suffering; the intervention does not seek to deny the reality of challenges endured by caregivers, but instead to foster a connection to meaning and purpose alongside their suffering. Through in-depth interviews with caregivers and a focus group with MCP interventionists, we have refined and improved our MCP-C manual so that it can most effectively assist caregivers in experiencing meaning and purpose, despite inevitable suffering.
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