Williams LifeSkills - Cancer Caregiver Intervention

The purpose of the pilot is to test the feasibility of developing and implementing the Williams LifeSkills Cancer Care (WLSCC) and examining its preliminary impact on caregiver well-being and patient well-being. The study is a two-arm randomized intervention pilot (WLSCC vs. Usual Care \[UC\]) with data collection at baseline, immediately after training, and 2 weeks after completing the training. Study setting is at the breast and thoracic cancer clinics at the Duke Cancer Clinic. A total of 40 cancer patients (20 breast cancer patients and 20 lung cancer patients) and their caregivers (for a total N of 80) will be recruited for the pilot. The WLSCC will involve six 30-minute phone sessions and will encompass the application of 10 psychosocial skills within the context of cancer caregiving. Descriptive statistics will be used to detail recruitment/retention rate, fidelity rate, and the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics for the total sample and each group. Plots of the individual trajectories (within-person scores over time) will be used to identify the pattern(s) of change over time, and assess between-person variability in baseline values (intercepts) and trajectories (slopes). This study carries minimal risk to study participation.