title: The DOMUS study protocol: a randomized clinical trial of accelerated transition from oncological treatment to specialized palliative care at home.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The focus of Specialized Palliative Care (SPC) is to improve care for patients with incurable diseases and their families, which includes the opportunity to make their own choice of place of care and ultimately place of death. The Danish Palliative Care Trial (DOMUS) aims to investigate whether an accelerated transition process from oncological treatment to continuing SPC at home for patients with incurable cancer results in more patients reaching their preferred place of care and death. The SPC in this trial is enriched with a manualized psychological intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  DOMUS is a controlled randomized clinical trial with a balanced parallel-group randomization (1:1). The planned sample size is 340 in- and outpatients treated at the Department of Oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital. Patients are randomly assigned either to: a) standard care plus SPC enriched with a standardized psychological intervention for patients and caregivers at home or b) standard care alone. Inclusion criteria are incurable cancer with no or limited antineoplastic treatment options.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Programs that facilitate transition from hospital treatment to SPC at home for patients with incurable cancer can be a powerful tool to improve patients' quality of life and support family/caregivers during the disease trajectory. The present study offers a model for achieving optimal delivery of palliative care in the patient's preferred place of care and attempt to clarify challenges.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01885637.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark ; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nordly
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark ; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirstine Skov
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Benthien
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Von Der Maase
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark ; Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.affiliation: The Danish Institute for Local and Regional Research, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruse
authors.affiliation: Danish Knowledge Centre for Palliative Care, Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Helle
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Timm
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark.
authors.forename: Eva Soelberg
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Vadstrup
authors.affiliation: Section of Palliative Medicine, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark ; Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Department of Neuroanaesthesiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Geana Paula
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Kurita
authors.affiliation: Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Annika Berglind
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: von Heymann-Horan
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark ; Section of Palliative Medicine, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sjøgren
keywords: Cancer; Home care services; Palliative treatment; Patient care; Randomized controlled trial; Specialized palliative care