Primary Palliative Care - a Feasibility Cluster Trial

This feasibility cluster-controlled randomized trial (RCT) evaluates a complex intervention for the delivery of primary palliative care in Family Health Units (FHUs). The intervention consists of training General Practitioners (GPs) in palliative care through a 30 hour e-learning program and implementing a structured consultation model (4 consultations over 12 weeks) for adult patients with advanced chronic illness. One FHU will receive the intervention and one FHU will follow usual care. The primary goal is to assess feasibility metrics (GP adherence, patient recruitment rate, and patient retention rate), which will inform the design of a subsequent full-scale cluster RCT.

NCT Number	NCT07737899
Lead Sponsor	University of Coimbra Collaborators: Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra, EPE
Conditions	Palliative Care, Primary Palliative Care, Advanced Cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Congestive Heart Failure Chronic, Chronic Kidney Disease (Stages 4 and 5)
Enrollment	30 participants
Start Date	2026-10-01
Primary Completion	2027-02-28 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-08-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-08-03