Training and Recruitment to Implement the CASA Psychosocial Intervention in Cancer Care

TL;DR

This study explores how training and recruitment strategies can help deliver culturally adapted psychosocial care to Latino cancer patients and caregivers.

Contribution

The study introduces a feasible model combining institutional and community-based approaches to implement culturally responsive psychosocial interventions.

Findings

Training programs significantly improved knowledge among doctoral students and community partners.

CASA intervention showed significant improvements in spiritual well-being and quality of life for participants.

Community-based recruitment achieved a high success rate compared to institutional referrals.

Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
Latino patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers face high psychosocial and spiritual distress, compounded by barriers to accessing culturally responsive psycho-oncology care.This study addresses the public health need for scalable training and recruitment strategies to support equitable implementation of psychosocial interventions in cancer care settings.

Latino patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers face high psychosocial and spiritual distress, compounded by barriers to accessing culturally responsive psycho-oncology care.

This study addresses the public health need for scalable training and recruitment strategies to support equitable implementation of psychosocial interventions in cancer care settings.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
Findings demonstrate that training doctoral students and community partners supports early implementation of a culturally adapted psychosocial intervention for Latino cancer dyads.Integrating institutional infrastructure with community-based recruitment highlights complementary pathways to improve reach and engagement in underserved populations.

Findings demonstrate that training doctoral students and community partners supports early implementation of a culturally adapted psychosocial intervention for Latino cancer dyads.

Integrating institutional infrastructure with community-based recruitment highlights complementary pathways to improve reach and engagement in underserved populations.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Early investment in structured training and community partnerships may strengthen sustainable delivery of psycho-oncology interventions in resource-limited settings.Implementation-focused pre-pilot studies can inform scalable models for integrating psychosocial care into oncology services while advancing health equity.

Early investment in structured training and community partnerships may strengthen sustainable delivery of psycho-oncology interventions in resource-limited settings.

Implementation-focused pre-pilot studies can inform scalable models for integrating psychosocial care into oncology services while advancing health equity.

Practical training and recruitment strategies are critical for the sustainable implementation of psychosocial interventions. However, few studies have examined how to prepare community partners and doctoral students to support culturally adapted psycho-oncology interventions. This pre-pilot study aims first to evaluate two distinct training programs and recruitment procedures, and second to explore preliminary pre-post outcomes of the Caregiver-Patients Support to Cope with Advanced Cancer (CASA) intervention, using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Three clinical psychology graduate students received CASA training, and two community partners completed Recruitment training. We present descriptive pre- and post-assessments, along with qualitative feedback, for both training and institutional (Puerto Rico Biobank) and community-based recruitment outcomes. A related-samples nonparametric analysis examined pre- and post-CASA intervention signals. Results indicated knowledge gains among doctoral students (pre-test M = 3.3; post-test M = 9.3) and community partners (pre-test M = 4.5; post-test M = 9.5). Preliminary outcomes revealed significant improvements in spiritual well-being (Z = −2.618, p = 0.009) and quality of life (Z = −2.957, p = 0.003) and a reduction in depressive (Z = −2.764, p = 0.006), anxiety (Z = −2.667, p = 0.008), and distress (Z = −2.195, p = 0.028) symptoms following CASA. Of 26 recruited dyads, institutional referrals enrolled 16 dyads (61.5%), while community partners referred 10 dyads with a 90.9% success rate. Findings support the feasibility of both training and CASA exploratory outcomes suggest meaningful psychosocial benefits for Latino dyads coping with advanced cancer. Combining institutional infrastructure with community engagement may enhance sustainability and equitable access to psycho-oncology care.

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