Service user involvement in radiotherapy and oncology education; the patient perspective

The Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) recently mandated the integration of the service-user voice into all aspects of allied healthcare education in the UK. However, the potential benefits and harms of this integration to service users are largely unknown. This study aimed to determine service user perspectives on relaying their personal experience of the cancer treatment pathway to students in an undergraduate Radiotherapy and Oncology programme.

A qualitative study was conducted where seven patients led educational sessions with students and were interviewed (1:1) 1 week later using an iterative semi-structured format.

Unanimously, the primary motivation for participation was the opportunity for patients to tell their unique story to positively influence the future behaviour and understanding of student healthcare professionals. Patients experiencing significant cancer-related psychological trauma reported reacting more emotionally to the experience but also reported particularly positive benefits from their participation, including therapeutic healing.

Findings highlight the array of benefits to service users associated with teaching in allied healthcare education. Post traumatic growth (PTG) may also potentially occur through this type of intervention in certain participants and this warrants further investigation in future studies.