Research

Care Dimensions has a strong commitment to conducting innovative, collaborative research that advances the science of high quality care for the seriously ill.

Director of Research Caitlin Brennan, PhD, APRN, leads our research initiatives and is supported by Senior Clinician Scientist Susan Lysaght Hurley, PhD, RN and Research Project Manager Morgan Murphy, BS. If you are an investigator interested in conducting research with our agency, please email: [email protected].

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Currently Funded Research

R01: Supportive Transfusion Program for Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: A Cluster Randomized Trial (HEME-Hospice RCT)

Care Dimensions and Dana Farber Cancer Institute are spearheading research to expand access to home hospice care for patients with blood cancers. Lack of access to blood transfusions is a key barrier to timely hospice use for patients with blood cancers.

• Refractory anemia and thrombocytopenia are common for patients with blood cancers and result in debilitating fatigue, shortness of breath, and bleeding.
• Transfusions palliate these symptoms and improve quality of life, yet most hospices do not provide access to transfusions. Patients are thus faced with the agonizing choice of preserving access to vital palliative transfusions versus accessing quality home-based hospice care.
• Patients with blood cancers and their caregivers report that transfusions are vital for their quality of life, and that access to transfusions is a key factor in deciding whether to opt for hospice care.

The study team has developed a new model of care (HEME-Hospice) that provides access to palliative home transfusions to patients with hematologic malignancies who are enrolled in hospice. The purpose of this study is:

• To determine whether access to HEME-hospice versus usual care improves hospice enrollment rates, quality of life (QOL), mood, and end-of-life healthcare utilization for patients with advanced blood cancers with an estimated life expectancy of six months or less, as well as QOL and mood of their caregivers.

This study is a cluster randomized trial in which hematologic oncologists will be randomly assigned to access to HEME-Hospice versus usual care. Participants in this study will have access to HEME-hospice or usual care based upon the strategy to which their hematologic oncologist has been assigned. Family caregivers can also volunteer to provide feedback and complete QOL surveys.

Principal Investigator: Oreofe O. Odejide, MD, MPH

Site Principal Investigator: Caitlin W. Brennan, PhD, APRN;

Co-investigators: Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, MD; Sean Stowell, MD, PhD; Haiden Huskamp, PhD; Hajime Uno, PhD; Adam Binder, MD; Sandhya Panch, MD, MPH (consultant); Sarah Lanahan MSN, RN, OCN; James Tulsky, MD

Funding Sponsor: National Cancer Institute

Timeline: 2025-2029

Website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06487247

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Funded Research – Dissemination in Progress

A Home Transfusion Program for Patients with Advanced Hematologic Malignancies (HEME-Hospice)

Care Dimensions and Dana Farber Cancer Institute completed a pilot study developing and implementing a hospice-embedded home transfusion protocol to expand access to home hospice care for patients with blood cancers.

• Lack of access to blood transfusions is a key barrier to hospice use for people with blood cancers.
• Transfusions palliate symptoms and improve quality of life for blood cancer patients, but patients are currently forced to choose between preserving access to vital palliative transfusions or accessing high quality home-based hospice care.
• The goal of this study was to give blood cancer patients access to the benefits of both home-based hospice care and palliative blood transfusions. 

This pilot study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a hospice-embedded home transfusion program. The home transfusion program included dedicated home transfusion nurses who transfused blood products in the home setting in accordance with AABB guidelines. Transfusions were given in response to symptoms most important to patients with blood cancers including fatigue, dyspnea, and bleeding. Family caregivers also volunteered to provide feedback.

Dissemination of results is currently in progress and findings will be linked below as they become available. See Currently Funded Research above for the next phase of this work.

Principal Investigator: Oreofe Odejide, MD, MPH
Co-investigators: Caitlin W. Brennan, PhD, APRN; Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, MD; Sean Stowell, MD, PhD; Haiden Huskamp, PhD; Hajime Uno, PhD; Charlotta Lindvall, MD, PhD
Funding Sponsor: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05509439

Publications: Knight, H.P., Brennan, C., Hurley, S.L., Tidswell, A.J., Aldridge, M.D., Johnson, K.S., Banach, E., Tulsky, J.A., Abel, G.A., & Odejide, O.O. (2024). Perspectives on Transfusions for Hospice Patients With Blood Cancers: A Survey of Hospice Providers. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 67(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.09.024

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Psilocybin-assisted therapy for Demoralization in Patients receiving Hospice Care (PATH Study)

Care Dimensions and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute pioneered research on psilocybin-assisted therapy to alleviate demoralization in patients receiving home hospice care.

• Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic drug produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms, which is manufactured for medical use to control potency and purity.
• Psilocybin induces profound and short-term changes in sensory perception (how you see, hear, and feel things), emotion, thought, and sense of self.
• In a supportive medical context, this effect is safe and may improve anxiety, depression, and demoralization in people with serious illness.

This study specifically assessed the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of this intervention in patients receiving home hospice care. Volunteers who participated in this study received careful medical and psychological screening, preparation, and educational materials about the study’s details.

Dissemination of results is currently in progress and findings will be linked below as they become available.

Principal Investigator: Yvan Beaussant, MD, MSc
Co-investigators: Dr. Zachary Sager, MD, Ilana M Braun, MD; Caitlin W. Brennan, PhD, APRN; Susan Lysaght Hurley, PhD, RN; Alden Rinaldi, MD; Justin Sanders, MD, MSc; James A. Tulsky, MD; Alifia Waliji-Banglawala, PharmD
Funding Sponsors: The Usona Institute, the Heffter Research Institute, and the Oppenheimer Family Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research Grants Program.

Website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04950608

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R43 SBIR: The Chiron Project: Using Virtual Reality to Prevent Substance Use Disorder in Healthcare Workers Facing Burnout

Care Dimensions partnered with See Yourself Health to test the feasibility and acceptability of delivering evidence-based mindful self-compassion training on an innovative virtual reality platform.

• Astonishingly, nearly 50% of physicians and 62% of nurses in the US are affected by burnout.
• Despite the magnitude of this problem, many healthcare workers report no access to workplace services offering relief from overwhelming stress and burnout.
• To address the worsening epidemic of workplace stress and burnout in healthcare settings, See Yourself Health developed The Chiron Project platform
• Chiron is an immersive virtual care and collaboration workspace that enables health professionals to access group-based educational programs to master self-compassion, resilience and self-management skills, access confidential peer support, and receive timely evidence-based care to better cope with burnout and avoidance of substance use disorders.

Approximately 30 clinicians participated in a 6-session training series that involved an in-person session for usability testing and orientation to the platform, followed by 5 remote, mindful self-compassion training sessions led by Cambridge Health Alliance Director of Implementation Science, Dr. Paula Gardiner.

Dissemination of results is currently in progress and findings will be linked below as they become available.

Principal Investigators: Maxwell Drascher, PhD, Suzanne Mitchell, MD, MS

Co-Investigators: Caitlin W. Brennan, PhD, APRN, Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH

Funding Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Timeline: Fall 2024-Spring 2025

Website: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11008046#history

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R56: Characterizing and Predicting Patient Trajectories After Live Discharge from Hospice among Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Care Dimensions partnered with Weill Cornell Medical College and Rutgers Institute for Health on a study that aimed to characterize patient trajectories in healthcare utilization, spending, and functional status after hospice live discharge among Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). The study had two specific aims:

1. To use national Medicare claims data and machine learning methods to identify clusters of patients with distinct patterns of healthcare utilization, spending, and functional status after they are discharged alive from hospice.
2. To conduct qualitative interviews with hospice clinicians, administrators, and data managers to understand their perspectives on the development and implementation of data driven tools that can improve decision making of hospice live discharge and care coordination after live discharge.

Dissemination of results is currently in progress and findings will be linked below as they become available.

Principal Investigator: Yongkang Zhang, PhD

Co-Investigators: Elizabeth Luth, PhD, Caitlin Brennan, PhD, APRN, Miriam Ryvicker, PhD

Funding Sponsor: National Institute on Aging

Website: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/rCDAYMyj9kmD3wncYJXdTQ/project-details/11121386
Timeline: Fall 2024-Summer 2025

Publication: Luth, E. A., Brennan, C. W., Hurley, S. L., Phontankuel, V., Prigerson, H. G., Ryvicker, M., Shao, H., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Hospice Readmission, Hospitalization, and Hospital Death Among Patients Discharged Alive from Hospice. JAMA Network Open, 7(5). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.11520

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Click here for a list of past funded research and projects.