Feasibility of Health Coaching in Cancer Patients

This is a study to assess the feasibility of using health coaching sessions in cancer patients. The investigators are investigating whether health coaching sessions can be delivered to this group of participants in a semi structured way. The investigators hope that the study will allow us to see whether such sessions can be delivered in a timely manner that is acceptable to patients and staff. The longer term aim for this work, should it prove feasible, is to conduct a randomised controlled trial to assess health coaching.

The participants for the study will be selected using purposive sampling. The investigators will select a sample of 10 patients. The participants will be patients at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust who are prescribed oral anticancer therapy. The sample will include male and female patients and try to cover a range of ages from 18 upwards. It will cover patients taking a range of oral anticancer agents, for a range of different cancer indications. The sample will look at patients who are newly prescribed oral anticancer therapy through to patients who have been taking therapy for years.

Participants will be identified for the study by multidisciplinary staff members who are running oral education sessions or by non-medical prescribers who are seeing patients in clinic. These members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) will be given lists of the types of participants the investigators are looking for in the study and where appropriate offer patients the opportunity to take part. Patients will be contacted prior to the end of their subsequent cycle of treatment about whether they wish to participate. Patients wishing to take part will be consented at their next clinic visit.

All participants will attend for their usual clinic visits throughout the study. Participants will additionally be offered up to 3 health coaching sessions for a maximum of three cycles or until treatment with their oral anticancer agent ends, whichever comes first.

At the end of study visit participants will be asked to attend a qualitative based interview to discuss the intervention.

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Key information

Conditions

Cancer Neoplasms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Patient is willing and able to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study.
Patient is willing and able to give written (signed and dated) informed consent for participation in the study.
Male or Female, aged 18 years or above.
Diagnosed with cancer.
Patient prescribed an oral anticancer agent.

Exclusion criteria

Patients who are unable to complete 1 cycle of oral anticancer therapy from the time of being approached about the trial.
Patients who would be unable to participate in a health coaching session with a health coach for any reasons, including, difficulty understanding or speaking English, other communication difficulties or hearing problems.
Other psychological, social or medical condition, that the Investigator considers would make the patient a poor trial candidate, could interfere with protocol compliance, could affect the patient's ability to give informed consent or may affect the interpretation of trial results.

Treatment and study plan

Health Coaching

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

Feasibility of health coaching intervention in cancer patients within the NHS

Time frame: up to 4months (depending on length of each cycle of treatment). Patients will be seen at up to 4 consecutive clinic visits.

To assess whether a 10 minute semi standardised health coaching session can be conducted with NHS cancer patients by pharmacists trained in health coaching and to gather the opinions of the patients and the health coaches as to whether the intervention is of benefit and warrants further investigation.

Measures of feasibility include: Recruitment figures, logistics of conducting health coaching sessions, review of the recorded coaching sessions, attendance rates, qualitative analysis of reflection notes and end of study interview with patients, Patient activation measure at baseline and end of study.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust

Other

Registry information

Official study title

A Study to Assess the Feasibility of Using Health Coaching Sessions in Cancer Patients

Important dates

Study start: 2015
Primary completion: 2016
Study completion: 2016
First posted: Sep 22, 2015
Registry last updated: Aug 28, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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