Session content and timing was developed and confirmed in our qualitative work (Expert Panel) and the CARE pilot study. Five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months).

The SWSC will include a social work assessment and follow-up augmented with additional components of supportive psychotherapy that have been shown to be an effective form of treatment for patients with cancer. Five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months).

For full participants (not training case participants) five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months).

Cancer and Aging: Reflections for Elders (CARE) Intervention

The SWSC will include a social work assessment and follow-up augmented with additional components of supportive psychotherapy that have been shown to be an effective form of treatment for patients with cancer. For full participants (not training case participants) five sessions (45-60 minutes each) will be delivered over an 8-week period (+4 weeks). Following these sessions, four brief booster sessions (20-30 minutes each) will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month to extend the interventions to 6 months (+3 months). Training case participants will follow a slightly condensed schedule.

Social Work and Supportive Counseling (SWSC) Intervention

Christian Nelson, PhD

Rebecca Saracino, PhD

This study is being done to see if a new psychotherapy intervention called Cancer and Aging: Reflections for Elders (CARE) can effectively treat depression and distress in older cancer patients. CARE is a 5-session intervention that takes place over the phone. This study will compare CARE with the Social Work and Supportive Counseling (SWSC) intervention, which also takes place over the phone. SWSC is a standard psychotherapeutic intervention that has been shown to be a supportive and effective form of treatment for distress for patients with cancer. The researchers will look at which intervention is more effective in treating depression and distress in participants.

This study is designed to test CARE delivered by telephone to improve cancer care for the population of older adults in a larger two-arm Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).

A New Psychotherapy Intervention for Older Cancer Patients

Cancer and Aging Reflections for Elders (CARE): A Geriatric-Specific Psychotherapy for Older Adults With Cancer

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center supports the international committee of medical journal editors (ICMJE) and the ethical obligation of responsible sharing of data from clinical trials. The protocol summary, a statistical summary, and informed consent form will be made available on clinicaltrials.gov when required as a condition of Federal awards, other agreements supporting the research and/or as otherwise required. Requests for deidentified individual participant data can be made beginning 12 months after publication and for up to 36 months post publication. Deidentified individual participant data reported in the manuscript will be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement and may only be used for approved proposals. Requests may be made to: crdatashare@mskcc.org.

This 14-item scale, which has been well tested in cancer populations including elderly patients with cancer, has depression and anxiety subscales of seven items each. It is considered particularly useful for patients with chronic disease because of the absence of somatic items that often confound the determination of psychiatric problems among the medically ill.

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization	Link
A New Psychotherapy Intervention for Older Cancer Patients	NCT04452825	Cancer	Cancer and Agin... Social Work and...	70 Years -	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
A New Psychotherapy Intervention for Older Cancer Patients	NCT04452825	Cancer	Cancer and Agin... Social Work and...	70 Years -	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for cancer and aging: reflections for elders (care) intervention