# Diversity Supplement to R01-Palliative care intervention for socioeconomically disadvantaged cancer patients

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $13,066

## Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with cancer, delays in
cancer diagnosis, receiving less treatment, decreased access to palliative care and hospice services, and
increased mortality. Although interventions have been developed to reduce the incidence of cancer and delays
in diagnosis in those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds; few interventions exist to improve
access to palliative care and hospice services for individuals with the least resources and greatest needs for
these services. The NIH consensus statement on cancer-related symptoms concluded that the most common
and debilitating are depression, pain and fatigue. Our team has observed that people from socioeconomically
disadvantaged backgrounds with advanced cancer have disproportionately higher levels of depression, pain
and fatigue and poorer quality of life than patients who reported higher socioeconomic status (SES). Although
the comorbidity of these symptoms is well known, no intervention has been developed to reduce these
symptoms concurrently. Experience from our successful pilot study of a web-based stepped collaborative care
intervention for cancer patients from predominantly socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, revealed
that patients randomized to the intervention arm, reported statistically significant reductions in depression,
pain, and fatigue and improved quality of life when compared to patients randomized to enhanced usual care
(K07CA118576). Furthermore, patients randomized to the intervention had decreased serum levels of
Interleukin (IL)-1 IL-6, IL-8 and improved survival (R21CA127046). Post-hoc analyses revealed that family
caregivers, of patients randomized to the intervention arm, had reductions in stress and depression, when
compared to caregivers with spouses/partners randomized to enhanced usual care (K07CA118576S1). There
is an urgent need to develop scalable, effective, and, cost-effective interventions, particularly for those who are
socioeconomically disadvantaged. We plan to test a web-based stepped collaborative care intervention with
450 advanced cancer patients and their spousal or intimate partners in the context of a randomized controlled
trial. The specific aims are: (1) to test the efficacy of a web-based stepped collaborative care intervention to
reduce symptoms of depression, pain, and fatigue and improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) in
advanced cancer patients when compared to patients randomized to the education and support arm; (2) to
examine if advanced cancer patients randomized to the web-based stepped collaborative care intervention
have reductions in biomarkers of inflammation and explore if these patients have slowed disease progression
and improved survival when compared to patients in the education and support arm; (3) to investigate whether
the spouses or intimate partners, of patients randomized to the web-based stepped collaborative care
intervention, h...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10063723
- **Project number:** 3R01CA196953-04S3
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer L. Steel
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $13,066
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2021-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10063723

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10063723, Diversity Supplement to R01-Palliative care intervention for socioeconomically disadvantaged cancer patients (3R01CA196953-04S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10063723. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*