Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention (SCAI) for Adult Outpatients With Advanced Cancer and Caregivers: A Pilot Trial to Assess Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effects.
Shelley E Varner Perez, Saneta Maiko, Emily S Burke and 6 others
PMID 34467769WHAT IT FOUND
Chaplain-delivered spiritual care for advanced cancer outpatients and caregivers was feasible and acceptable, with high visit attendance and most visits by phone.
Small pilot showed preliminary spiritual well-being and quality-of-life improvements, not proof of benefit.
Key findings
0121 of 24 patients and 14 of 18 caregivers completed all four planned chaplain visits.
02Mean satisfaction was 3.7 on a 1 to 4 scale, and most visits were by phone (92.4% patients; 96.4% caregivers).
03Patients' spiritual well-being improved significantly from baseline at one, six, and twelve weeks; patients' and caregivers' quality of life improved significantly at two time points.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a single-arm pilot with no control group, so changes over time cannot be separated from other factors. It included only 24 patients and 18 caregivers, and it was designed for feasibility, not to prove benefit. Enrollment was 29.3% of eligible patients, below the 40% benchmark, and follow-up completion was lower at some time points. Loss to follow-up may have minimized detection of changes over time. Participants were highly religious and primarily Christian, and recruitment was from one Midwest cancer center, so results may not apply to other groups. Caregivers had lower distress scores at baseline on some measures, leaving less room for improvement. Most visits were by phone, which may not match preferences for all patients or settings. The chaplain framework had multiple components, so no single part can be isolated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that chaplain-delivered spiritual care improves spiritual well-being or quality of life. This was a small single-arm pilot with no control group, and the intervention had multiple components, so changes cannot be attributed to any single part.