Barriers and facilitators to implementing the commission on cancer's distress screening program standard

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Healthcare Management
• Psychosocial Care

Background:

• Cancer centers face challenges implementing mandated distress screening programs.
• The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer requires distress screening standards.
• Routine distress screening is crucial for comprehensive cancer care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the outcomes of a 2-year training program (Screening for Psychosocial Distress Program - SPDP) for clinicians.
• To assess the success of distress screening implementation by program participants.
• To identify institutional barriers and facilitators to distress screening and the role of the SPDP.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal pre- and posttest mixed methods design.
• Investigator-developed questionnaire collecting qualitative and quantitative data at 6, 12, and 24 months.
• Conventional content analysis for qualitative data and mixed methods analysis in Dedoose.

Main Results:

• Participants achieved 95% of distress screening implementation goals within 2 years.
• Key barriers included lack of staff, competing demands, and staff turnover.
• Facilitators included buy-in, institutional support, and SPDP participation, which increased over time.

Conclusions:

• Training programs like SPDP can facilitate the achievement of distress screening standards.
• The benefits of such training appear to increase with longer participation.
• Targeted training is essential to promote facilitators and overcome barriers in distress screening implementation.