"Translational" Patient Education in Adult Cancer Patients with Entero-Urostomy and Their Caregivers: A Qualitative...

Background/Objectives: Patient education (PE) is a key component in the management of chronic conditions, including living with an entero-urostomy. Exploring patients' and caregivers' experiences may inform the development of tailored educational interventions. This study aimed to explore the perceptions, experiences, and needs of adult oncology patients with entero-urostomies and their caregivers as part of the patient education process. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted at a single Italian cancer centre using two focus group sessions integrated with PE activities. Discussions were audio-recorded and analysed through thematic analysis following the framework described by Dawadi. NVivo was used to support data management and facilitate the assessment of data saturation. Results: A total of 28 participants (15 patients and 13 caregivers) were recruited. Three main themes emerged: translational patient education as a co-constructed educational process, time as a protective and regulatory resource in everyday stoma management and living with a stoma requires adaptation and meaning-making. The first theme describes a dynamic integration of clinical, peer, and relational knowledge co-constructed by nurses, patients, and caregivers. The second theme referred to the perception of time and care contexts, including telenursing, as protective spaces supporting anticipatory coping and daily life planning. The last theme captured the embodied and psychological adaptation to living with a stoma, characterised by heterogeneous processes of acceptance and meaning-making. Conclusions: PE emerges as a relational and interactive process that supports self-care, emotional adjustment, and quality of life. The concept of translational patient education, as part of the patient education process, offers a novel framework for integrating multiple forms of knowledge within educational practices, strengthening the person-centred nature of PE programmes. These findings support the development of tailored, person-centred PE interventions that incorporate the dynamic educational ecosystem involving patients, caregivers, and stoma care nurses. They also highlight the need for further research to validate this conceptual model across diverse settings and populations.