Providing Outpatient Oncology Mental Health Support: Understanding Staff Perspectives

Mental health challenges are common in individuals with cancer, but accessing support remains a gap, particularly in outpatient oncology. Real-world factors influencing staff's ability to integrate mental health assessment and support into workflows are unclear. We aimed to (1) identify and explore factors influencing the assessment and management of mental health in outpatient oncology and (2) identify factors that influence normalising support for mental health during cancer treatment.

Through an exploratory qualitative approach, data was collected via focus groups with oncology healthcare professionals at a major metropolitan hospital. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed seven themes.

Staff recognised the critical need for mental health support during treatment. However, staff participation in mental health assessment and referral processes was impeded by feelings of futility due to the lack of available oncology-specific services. Staff reported insufficient resources and time constraints, and reliance on experiential knowledge rather than the preferred support from clinicians with mental health training. Staff highlighted inequities in access to mental health support which exacerbate disparities in care provision. Staff reported that a lack of role clarity and responsibilities hindered monitoring of patient mental health management and contributed to a perceived lack of accountability. Short-term initiatives such as improved documentation, creation of central referral pathways and clinical supervision for all staff were reported as desirable.

While systemic resource constraints were acknowledged, oncology staff also identified several feasible, shorter-term initiatives they felt would be helpful and desirable until mental health professionals can be integrated into oncology outpatient care.