Documenting patients' and providers' preferences when proposing a randomized controlled trial: a qualitative...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cancer Survivorship
• Healthcare Delivery

Background:

• Advances in cancer treatment lead to longer survival for early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) patients.
• Best practices recommend transitioning ESBC survivors from oncology care to community-based follow-up.
• There is a need for effective models to manage post-treatment survivorship care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore patient and oncology provider (OP) reactions to proposed methods for a future randomized controlled trial (RCT).
• To test the feasibility of a nurse-led Telephone Survivorship Clinic (TSC) for smooth transitions of ESBC survivors.
• To gather feedback for optimizing recruitment and assessment tools for a survivorship trial.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study design utilizing thematic analysis.
• Two-pronged approach: interviews with OPs and ESBC patients.
• Gathered feedback on recruitment strategies and questionnaire package content and relevance.

Main Results:

• OPs identified facilitators (novelty, utility, simplicity) and barriers (coordination, time, language) to recruitment.
• OPs suggested improvements like combined electronic/paper referrals and clinician support.
• Patient advisors were satisfied with the assessment package but suggested relevance adjustments and additions (trust, proximity).

Conclusions:

• Oncology providers and patient advisors rated proposed trial methods highly for simplicity and relevance.
• Feedback provided actionable insights for refining study design and recruitment processes.
• Findings offer valuable information for effective cancer patient recruitment in survivorship clinical trials.