Providing Outpatient Oncology Mental Health Support: Understanding Staff Perspectives

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Mental Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Mental health challenges are prevalent in cancer patients.
• Accessing mental health support in outpatient oncology settings is a significant gap.
• Factors influencing the integration of mental health care into oncology workflows are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and explore factors affecting mental health assessment and management in outpatient oncology.
• To determine factors that facilitate the normalization of mental health support during cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory qualitative approach using focus groups.
• Participants included oncology healthcare professionals from a major metropolitan hospital.
• Data analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, identifying seven key themes.

Main Results:

• Staff acknowledge the critical need for mental health support.
• Futility due to lack of specialized services, resource shortages, and time constraints impede staff involvement.
• Inequities in access, lack of role clarity, and reliance on experiential knowledge were reported.
• Desirable short-term initiatives include improved documentation, referral pathways, and clinical supervision.

Conclusions:

• Systemic resource constraints are a major acknowledged barrier.
• Oncology staff identified practical, short-term initiatives to enhance mental health support.
• These initiatives are seen as beneficial until mental health professionals can be integrated into outpatient oncology care.