IN-TALK: Co-producing a Hospice Intimacy Support Toolkit in England

IN-TALK is a 24-month prospective mixed methods observational study which uses Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) as its co-production methodology to develop a hospice intimacy support toolkit. The study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme (Grant Reference NIHR209649).

The study aims to co-produce an evidence-informed hospice intimacy support toolkit to support healthcare professionals in initiating and responding to conversations about intimacy needs with people receiving hospice care in England.

The study comprises two interconnected work packages. Cross-sectional surveys of hospice service users and healthcare professionals will generate evidence to inform Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops, through which participants will co-produce a hospice intimacy support toolkit.

Work Package 1 will undertake cross-sectional surveys of hospice healthcare professionals and hospice service users in England. The surveys will explore experiences of intimacy needs conversations, perceived barriers and facilitators, confidence, education and training needs, and priorities for improving support within hospice care. Survey findings will be analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of free-text responses where appropriate.

Work Package 2 will use Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) methodology to bring together hospice service users and healthcare professionals in a series of co-production workshops. Workshop participants will review the findings from Work Package 1, identify priorities for improvement and collaboratively design the content, format and implementation considerations for a hospice intimacy support toolkit. Workshops will be delivered in two face-to-face locations and one online workshop to maximise accessibility and participation.

The study will produce a hospice intimacy support toolkit intended to support healthcare professionals to address intimacy needs as part of holistic, person-centred hospice care. No investigational medicinal products, medical devices or experimental interventions will be evaluated. Participants will continue to receive usual hospice care throughout the study.

Inclusion criteria

Hospice service users: Aged 18 years or over. Hospice service users: Patients, partners, loved ones and bereaved people who are receiving, or have received, care or support services from hospices in England.

Hospice service users: Able to understand and communicate in spoken and written English, independently or with the support of an interpreter.

Hospice service users: Able and willing to provide informed consent. Healthcare professionals: Registered or non-registered healthcare professionals currently working within hospices in England involved in patient care and support.

Healthcare professionals: Aged 18 years or over. Healthcare professionals: Able and willing to provide informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Hospice service users: Cognitive impairment that impedes communication. Healthcare professionals: Registered and non-registered Healthcare professionals currently working outside of hospices; and England.