INSPIRE: INtegrated Short-term PallIative REhabilitation to improve quality of life and equitable care access in incurable cancer

Disability related to incurable cancer affects over a million Europeans each year. Our objective is to test the clinical and cost effectiveness of an integrated short-term palliative rehabilitation intervention, to improve function and quality of life in people affected by incurable cancer. At the core of INSPIRE is a multinational randomised controlled trial across five European countries. We will recruit 340 participants to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of palliative rehabilitation on quality of life, disability, symptom burden and goal attainment in people with incurable cancer. If positive, the trial could result in a scalable and equitable intervention that improves function and quality of life in people with incurable cancer, and reduces the burden of care for their families. The intervention can be adapted and integrated into different health systems using existing staff and services, with little or no additional cost. To support our ambition to make palliative rehabilitation part of routine care for people with incurable cancer we also conduct: - comparative analysis of health services to understand current integration of rehabilitation across oncology and palliative care services; - mixed-method evaluations of equity and inclusivity, processes and implementation for the intervention, at patient, health service and health system levels; - evidence synthesis and a Delphi consensus on indicators, core interventions, outcomes, and integration methods, to develop a framework for palliative rehabilitation practice and policy. The INSPIRE consortium brings together leaders in palliative care, oncology and rehabilitation from Nordic, Southern and Northern European countries, with complementary expertise in health services research, trials of complex interventions, mixed method evaluations, statistics and economics. We are partnering with European civil society organisations to ensure citizen engagement and dissemination at the highest level.