HopeNCT07675083
Bereaved Parent Conversations on Hope
A study testing Discussion Guide and Post-session Reflection Exercise in people with Hope, run by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study looks at whether it is possible and helpful to have video call conversations about how hopes can change through the cancer journey between bereaved parents and learners at a children's cancer center. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Hope
- What is being tested?
- Discussion Guide and Post-session Reflection Exercise
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 75 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 24 Jul 2026to Oct 2028
- Phase
- Interventional
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Intervention Participants must be:
- Students, observers, trainees, and newly hired clinicians,
- ≥18 years old,
- participating in or observing clinical care at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and
- willing to participate in the virtual intervention and associated study activities as learners
- Intervention Facilitators must be:
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- Bereaved parents,
- ≥ 18 years old,
- screened and cleared to volunteer as advisers with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through Family, Guest and Volunteer Services, and
- willing to participate in the virtual intervention and associated study activities as a facilitator
Who cannot join
- Intervention Participants:
- Age < 18 years, decline participation, or unable to speak/write in conversational English.
- Intervention Facilitators:
- Age < 18 years, decline participation, or unable to speak/write in conversational English.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee, 38105
Brittany Cowfer, MD, 888-226-4343, referralinfo@stjude.org
Brittany Cowfer, MD
About this study
Official title: Bereaved Parent Conversations on Hope (BeHope)
This study looks at whether it is possible and helpful to have video call conversations about how hopes can change through the cancer journey between bereaved parents and learners at a children's cancer center.
Read the detailed description
Primary Objectives
Aim 1: To assess feasibility and acceptability of virtual conversations about hope between bereaved parent advisors and learners at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Aim 2: To evaluate impact of discussions about hope on both bereaved parent advisors and learners.
Secondary Objectives
Aim 1: To explore impact of discussion with bereaved parent advisors and subsequent reflection on participant professional identity formation.
This intervention is designed to facilitate direct conversations between learners and bereaved parent advisors about how hope evolves through the child's cancer journey. Providing a structured, virtual opportunity to discuss hope will allow learners to hear about the lived experiences of bereaved parents as they navigated pediatric cancer treatment, end of life, and bereavement. The intervention incorporates a discussion guide to support the conversation and a post-session reflection exercise. Assessments will include quantitative surveys administered pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention, as well as qualitative written reflections from participants and bereaved parents.
Both participant groups will receive an information sheet detailing the study's purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits. An affirmative response on the pre-intervention survey to the item, "I would like to participate in a virtual educational discussion about hope," will be considered as implied consent to participate in the educational intervention portion of the study for both participants and facilitators. Investigators plan to enroll a total of 50 learners and 25 bereaved parent advisors.
For each learner who agrees to participate, two bereaved parent advisors will be identified and scheduled to meet virtually with the learner for approximately 1 hour using a virtual platform. Prior to the meeting, bereaved parent advisors will be instructed to select 3 photos that represent how hope evolved during their child's illness journey. Both the learners and bereaved parent advisors will be provided with the discussion guide for review prior to the session. Each virtual meeting will be recorded for implementation fidelity and for reference should any learner or parent concerns arise retrospectively from the conversation.
Immediately following each virtual meeting, both the learners and bereaved parent advisors will be asked to engage in individual short (15 minute) written reflections. Following this, participants will complete additional post-intervention survey questions with data collection managed through an online software platform. A second meeting with the same parents may be held at the learners request and the parents willingness. The participants who agree to and participate in a second meeting will receive open-ended questions and be prompted to complete a timed written reflection after the second meeting.
On an approximately quarterly basis, learners who have previously completed the intervention will be invited to participate in a facilitated group debrief and reflection session. Separately, bereaved parent advisors who have participated in at least one virtual meeting in the preceding quarter will be invited to a discussion and feedback session to share about their experiences with the program. For parents who do not prefer a group meeting, an individual session will be offered. All debriefing sessions will be recorded.
- Conditions
- Hope
- Being tested
- Discussion Guide, Post-session Reflection Exercise
- Keywords
- Cancer Journey, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH), SJCRH Bereaved Parent Advisors, SJCRH Learners, Virtual Intervention
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Discussion GuideOther
See Detailed Description
Post-session Reflection ExerciseOther
See Detailed Description
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Educational Intervention | Other | Intervention Participants: Students, observers, trainees, and newly hired clinicians ≥18 years old participating in or observing clinical care at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and willing to participate in the virtual intervention and associated study activities as learners.
Intervention Facilitators: Bereaved parents ≥ 18 years old screened and cleared to volunteer as advisers with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and willing to participate in the virtual intervention and associated study activities as a facilitator. Receives: Other: Discussion Guide; Other: Post-session Reflection Exercise |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Feasibility of Intervention and Acceptability of Intervention Measures
Feasibility will be evaluated using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM), which includes four itemized responses that are scored from one to five, such that one represents the lowest possible mean score and five the highest possible mean score. Acceptability will be evaluated using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM), which includes four itemized responses that are scored from one to five, such that one represents the lowest possible mean score and five the highest possible mean score. Feasibility and acceptability will be evaluated for the overall study cohort, including both learners and bereaved parent advisors, and by subgroup. Feasibility and Acceptability are standardly considered to be achieved with a mean score ≥3 for each. Higher scores indicate greater perceived feasibility and acceptability.
Measured: Day 1 after virtual meeting
Survey
To evaluate the impact of discussions about hope on both bereaved parent advisors and learners, investigators will summarize the distribution of responses to the pre and post intervention survey items by reporting frequencies and percentages for each response category. Pre-intervention surveys will also contain demographic information.
Measured: At enrollment and day 1 after virtual meeting
Written Reflections
Written reflections, captured after each virtual session, will be de-identified and analyzed using content analysis, an inductive approach which may include memo-writing, codebook development, coding, reconciliation, and synthesis to identify patterns and themes that emerge from the reflections. These will be used to assess impact of the session on both learners and parent advisors.
Measured: Day 1 after virtual meeting
Secondary outcomes (1)
Debrief Sessions
Quarterly debrief sessions will be offered to those who have completed the intervention separately for bereaved parent advisors and learners. Learner debriefing sessions will be recorded, transcribed, and analyzed qualitatively to assess for impact on professional identity formation. Optional parent advisor debriefs will also be recorded and analyzed to further assess impact on facilitators.
Measured: Quarterly over 2 years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted30 Jun 2026
- Study start24 Jul 2026
- Primary completionJul 2028 (estimated)
- Study completionOct 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for HopeStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by St. Jude Children's Research HospitalThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 75 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Brittany Cowfer, MD, Principal investigator, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07675083
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- BeHope
- Other IDs
- NCI-2026-05085
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 24 Jun 2026
- Last updated
- 29 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Individual participant de-identified datasets containing the variables analyzed in the published article will be made available (related to the study primary or secondary objectives contained in the publication). Supporting documents such as the protocol, statistical analyses plan, and informed consent are available through the CTG website for the specific study. Data used to generate the published article will be made available at the time of article publication. Investigators who seek access to individual level de-identified data will contact the computing team in the Department of Biostatistics (ClinTrialDataRequest@stjude.org) who will respond to the data request.