For researchers
Study design, methods, work packages, and opportunities for collaboration. Outputs will be added as they emerge.
Study at a glance
CARE-PAC is a three-year, NIHR-funded product development award running February 2026 – January 2029. It combines a structured co-production phase, iterative system development, and a multi-site randomised controlled trial — alongside parallel health-economic and implementation work streams designed to support real-world adoption.
Research questions
CARE-PAC addresses three principal questions:
- Does a co-produced digital remote monitoring and support system improve symptom burden, quality of life, and patterns of healthcare utilisation for people approaching the end of life?
- Does the same system improve the experience and reduce the unmet needs of informal carers?
- Is the system cost-effective and feasible to integrate into routine UK palliative and end-of-life care pathways?
Methods
Co-production phase
Iterative workshops with patients, carers, and professionals across primary, secondary, community, and hospice settings. Outputs from this phase shape the content, functionality, and integration strategy of the system before any trial activity.
Randomised controlled trial
Multi-site, individually randomised trial recruiting approximately 200 participants near the end of life. Pre-specified primary and secondary outcomes capture symptom burden, health-related quality of life, healthcare utilisation, and carer-reported measures. Detailed statistical analysis plan will be published alongside the protocol.
Health economics
Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses informed by NHS reference costs and patient-reported outcome measures. The work is positioned to inform commissioning decisions on real-world adoption.
Implementation
Implementation evaluation runs alongside the trial, capturing acceptability, fidelity, contextual fit, and the conditions under which CARE-PAC works (or does not). The implementation strand feeds directly into the project’s post-trial commercialisation pathway.
Open science commitments
- Trial pre-registration in a public registry (ISRCTN or equivalent) ahead of recruitment.
- Protocol and statistical analysis plan published prior to first analysis.
- Open-access publication of primary outputs where licensing permits.
- Plain-English summaries of every output, co-authored with our PPI panel.
Working with us
We welcome collaboration with researchers in digital health, palliative care, health-services research, health economics, behavioural science, and implementation science. Specific opportunities include affiliated PhD and postdoctoral projects, secondary analyses, and methods exchange across cognate trials.