Trial reportThe Gerontologist2025
When Is the Best Time to Deliver Supportive Interventions to Hospice Family Caregivers? A Multi-Method Study.
Trial report in The Gerontologist, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesWhile problem-solving interventions can teach caregivers effective coping skills throughout hospice, the optimal timing for introducing such resources remains unclear. We explored how the timing of a problem-solving intervention affects its effectiveness for hospice caregivers. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsWe conducted a multi-method study analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from a randomized clinical trial of a Problem-solving Intervention to Support Caregivers in End-of-life care Settings (PISCES). Caregivers were randomly assigned to 3 intervention groups: PISCES delivered face-to-face (F2F), PISCES delivered in a hybrid format, and PISCES integrating positive appraisal elements (PISCESplus). We compared the anxiety and depressive symptoms before and after the intervention among 318 caregivers across various stages of hospice. We conducted a content analysis of 45 exit interviews to explore how caregivers perceived PISCES and their hospice experience in relation to its timing.
resultsCaregivers' anxiety showed significant pre-post differences regardless of the intervention timing, modality, and components. The impact on depressive symptoms differed: While the PISCES F2F group showed significant changes at all timings, only bereaved caregivers had significant changes in the PISCES Hybrid group (p < .001). In the PISCESplus group, caregivers in the midst of hospice and bereaved showed significant changes (p = .043 and <.001, respectively). Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: timing for PISCES to be most effective, emotions during various stages of hospice, and the length of PISCES. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Strategically integrating PISCES into hospice practice can help alleviate caregivers' distress. More work is needed to improve the real-world applicability of caregiver-focused interventions in hospice.
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