An observational study in Communication About Intimacy Needs in Hospice and Palliative Care, sponsored by Dorothy House Hospice. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-06.
Sponsored by Dorothy House Hospice · Observational
People receiving hospice care may experience concerns about intimacy, closeness and physical affection that can affect their quality of life and wellbeing. However, healthcare professionals often report feeling uncertain about how to initiate or respond to conversations about intimacy needs. This can result in unmet needs and missed opportunities to provide holistic, person-centred care.
The aim of the IN-TALK study is to co-produce a hospice intimacy support toolkit to support healthcare professionals in initiating and responding to conversations about intimacy needs with people receiving hospice care in England.
This prospective mixed methods observational study uses Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) as its co-production methodology to develop a hospice intimacy support toolkit. Findings from the surveys will inform a series of co-production workshops involving hospice service users and healthcare professionals. Together, participants will co-produce the content and design of a hospice intimacy support toolkit to support person-centred care in hospice services across England.
IN-TALK is a 24-month prospective mixed methods observational study which uses Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) as its co-production methodology to develop a hospice intimacy support toolkit. The study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme (Grant Reference NIHR209649).
The study aims to co-produce an evidence-informed hospice intimacy support toolkit to support healthcare professionals in initiating and responding to conversations about intimacy needs with people receiving hospice care in England.
The study comprises two interconnected work packages. Cross-sectional surveys of hospice service users and healthcare professionals will generate evidence to inform Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops, through which participants will co-produce a hospice intimacy support toolkit.
Work Package 1 will undertake cross-sectional surveys of hospice healthcare professionals and hospice service users in England. The surveys will explore experiences of intimacy needs conversations, perceived barriers and facilitators, confidence, education and training needs, and priorities for improving support within hospice care. Survey findings will be analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of free-text responses where appropriate.
Work Package 2 will use Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) methodology to bring together hospice service users and healthcare professionals in a series of co-production workshops. Workshop participants will review the findings from Work Package 1, identify priorities for improvement and collaboratively design the content, format and implementation considerations for a hospice intimacy support toolkit. Workshops will be delivered in two face-to-face locations and one online workshop to maximise accessibility and participation.
The study will produce a hospice intimacy support toolkit intended to support healthcare professionals to address intimacy needs as part of holistic, person-centred hospice care. No investigational medicinal products, medical devices or experimental interventions will be evaluated. Participants will continue to receive usual hospice care throughout the study.
719 studies on the registry are indexed under Communication; 159 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 794 is above the median of 104 across 132 observational studies indexed under Communication.
Browse Communication studies →Dorothy House Hospice is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.
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The study population comprises adult hospice service users (including patients, partners, loved ones and bereaved people receiving palliative and end of life care or support services from hospices in England) and registered and non-registered healthcare professionals working in hospices in England.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Hospice service users: Aged 18 years or over. Hospice service users: Patients, partners, loved ones and bereaved people who are receiving, or have received, care or support services from hospices in England.
Hospice service users: Able to understand and communicate in spoken and written English, independently or with the support of an interpreter.
Hospice service users: Able and willing to provide . Healthcare professionals: Registered or non-registered healthcare professionals currently working within hospices in England involved in patient care and support.
Healthcare professionals: Aged 18 years or over. Healthcare professionals: Able and willing to provide informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria:
Hospice service users: Cognitive impairment that impedes communication. Healthcare professionals: Registered and non-registered Healthcare professionals currently working outside of hospices; and England.
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Adults receiving hospice care in England who meet the study eligibility criteria and participate in the survey, the Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops, or both, to inform the hospice intimacy support toolkit.
Behavioral: Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops
Healthcare professionals working within hospice services in England who meet the study eligibility criteria and participate in the survey, the Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops, or both, to inform the hospice intimacy support toolkit.
Behavioral: Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops
Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshops are used as a co-production research method to collaboratively develop a hospice intimacy support toolkit with hospice service users and healthcare professionals. The workshops are part of the research methodology and are not a therapeutic or clinical intervention.
Priorities for an intimacy support toolkit
Identification of priorities for the content, format and implementation of a hospice intimacy support toolkit through analysis of survey findings and Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) workshop discussions involving hospice service users and healthcare professionals.
Time frame: Up to 24 months
Hospice service users' intimacy support needs and priorities
Self-reported intimacy support needs, preferred sources of support, and priorities for hospice intimacy support identified through an e-survey of hospice service users.
Time frame: During the cross-sectional survey data collection period (anticipated November 2026 to March 2027).
Healthcare professionals' confidence and educational needs
Self-reported confidence, perceived barriers and facilitators, and education and training needs relating to conversations about intimacy needs identified through an e-survey of hospice healthcare professionals.
Time frame: During the cross-sectional survey data collection period (anticipated April 2027 to September 2027).
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for Apr 2028, 17 months later.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Dorothy House Hospice