AI coach for tough talks: could an app ease anxiety in cancer care?
NCT ID NCT07753668
First seen Aug 07, 2026 · Last updated Aug 07, 2026
Summary
This trial tests whether an AI-powered app, used alongside a structured communication guide, can help healthcare professionals have more supportive conversations with patients facing serious illness. The goal is to see if this approach reduces anxiety and depression in patients and their family caregivers, compared to standard care. The study involves 190 participants and also looks at how usable and cost-effective the app is in real clinical settings.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- An AI-powered virtual assistant app combined with a serious illness communication guide
- What this could lead to
- If effective, this approach could improve how clinicians discuss serious illness, potentially reducing anxiety and depression in patients and their families.
- What could go wrong
- The trial is relatively small and early, and the benefits may not be consistent across different settings. The AI app's real-time support could also be distracting or less useful than expected.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 190 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2026
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Adults aged 18-80 years. * Diagnosis of a serious illness, defined as an illness carrying a high risk of mortality that negatively impacts quality of life or daily functioning, and that typically causes significant emotional distress in caregivers. * Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 50 or Performance Status ≤ 2 or Palliative Performance Scale ≥ 50. * Spanish as native/fluent language, sufficient to complete the study questionnaires. * Cared for by an HCP enrolled in the study (intervention or control arm). * Able and willing to provide written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Cognitive or perceptual impairment that prevents reliable completion of the study questionnaires. * Inability to communicate in Spanish to the level required by the assessment instruments. * Any condition that, in the investigator's judgment, makes participation unsafe or unfeasible (e.g., clinical instability incompatible with follow-up).
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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CUDECA Institute/CUDECA Foundation
Benalmádena, Málaga, 29631, Spain
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Fundación CUDECA
Benalmádena, Málaga, 29631, Spain
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