Financial Navigation Program to Improve Understanding and Management of Financial Aspects of Cancer Care for Patients
Cancer Type
Solid Tumor
Unknown Primary
Eligibility
18 Years and older, Male and Female
Study Type
Health services research
Protocol IDs
S1912CD (primary)
S1912CD
SWOG-S1912CD
NCI-2021-00579
Summary
This clinical trial examines a financial navigation program in helping patients understand and better manage the financial aspects of cancer care. Cancer patients may be at high risk for financial problems because of the cost of cancer treatment. A financial navigator is a person or team who work with patients and their families to help them reduce stress or hardship related to the cost of cancer treatment. Financial navigators help patients understand their out-of-pocket expenses and what their health insurance plans may cover. Financial navigation may also help patients set up payment plans, find cost-saving methods for treatments, and improve access to healthcare services that the patient needs. Providing financial navigation to patients may help reduce financial worries and improve quality of life.
Objectives
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
I. To determine whether a proactive financial navigation program for patients planning to receive anti-cancer treatment decreases the risk of material financial hardship over 12 months among patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent metastatic solid tumor, or a newly diagnosed hematologic malignancy.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To examine whether proactive financial navigation improves patient quality of life.
II. To examine whether proactive financial navigation decreases financial worry among patients relative to usual care and explore the extent to which financial worry correlates with financial hardship.
III. To explore whether the proactive financial navigation intervention leads to decreased cost-related medication nonadherence and fewer patient emergency department (ED) visits and unplanned hospital admissions.
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES:
I. To explore the impact of proactive financial navigation on spouse/partner caregiver financial hardship, quality of life, and caregiver burden and evaluate the concordance between patient and caregiver credit data.
II. To explore the utilization of financial navigation services by younger, financially fragile, and lower income patients and households and evaluate the moderator effect of age, financial fragility, and income on the impact of the proactive financial navigation intervention.
OUTLINE: Patients and spouses/partners are randomized to 1 of 2 groups.
GROUP I: Participants receive financial literacy training consisting of watching online educational videos over 2-8 minutes. Participants also complete questionnaires over 30-60 minutes about education, employment, finances (assets, debt), insurance, and quality of life (financial worry) and have credit reports assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months.
GROUP II: Participants receive financial literacy training consisting of watching online educational videos, developed by Consumer Education and Training Services (CENTS) over 2-8 minutes. Participants also meet with Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) counselor over approximately 1 hour every month for 6 months. Participants also complete questionnaires over 30-60 minutes about education, employment, finances (assets, debt), insurance, and quality of life (financial worry) and have credit reports assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months.