Promising results of a resource- and activity-oriented intervention integrating rehabilitation into palliative care in people with advanced cancer: A feasibility study testing outcome measures.

Objectives: People with advanced cancer express the need for support to balance everyday activities to experience quality of life. The Balance, Activity and Quality of Life Intervention was developed to address this need using a resource- and activity-oriented approach that integrates rehabilitation into palliative care. To inform a future full-scale evaluation, the objective of this feasibility study was to test if the selected outcome measures of health-related quality of life, including physical function and fatigue, and occupational balance could capture any possible changes of the Balance, Activity and Quality of Life Intervention in people with advanced cancer.

Methods: Repeated-measurement feasibility study without a control group (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04772690). Twenty-two home-living adults with advanced cancer participated in the study. The intervention was delivered at the research clinic of REPHA, The Danish Knowledge Centre for Rehabilitation and Palliative Care. Data regarding health-related quality of life, including physical function and fatigue, and occupational balance were collected with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 and the Occupational Balance Questionnaire at baseline, after a 5-day intervention stay and at 6- and 12-week follow-up.

Results: The outcome measure of health-related quality of life captured a statistically significant improvement (p = 0.0046) after the 5-day intervention stay, with 64% of the participants experiencing clinically relevant improvements. No other statistically significant changes were found. Missing data were minor.

Significance of results: Health-related quality of life is a promising outcome measure to capture the possible changes of the Balance, Activity and Quality of Life Intervention. The results indicate that a resource- and activity-oriented approach may be helpful when integrating rehabilitation into palliative care.