Engaging Stakeholders in the Development of an eHealth Intervention for Cancer Symptom Management for Rural Residents

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Gilbertson‐White ◽  
Chi W. Yeung ◽  
Seyedehtanaz Saeidzadeh ◽  
Hannah Tykol ◽  
Praveen Vikas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Symptom Management ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Cancer Symptom Management ◽  
Ehealth Intervention

Developing an eHealth intervention for cancer symptom management for rural residents.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 207-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Gilbertson-White ◽  
Chi Yeung ◽  
Keri Nace Mercer ◽  
Dorota Bartoczszyk ◽  
Todd Papke
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Symptom Management ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Cancer Symptoms ◽  
Cancer Symptom Management ◽  
Web App ◽  
The Web

207 Background: A disproportionate number of late-stage cancer diagnoses occur in rural residents. Paradoxically this population, with an increased need for palliative care, has minimal access to these services. As smartphone and high-speed internet connectivity reaches near universal penetrance across the country, eHealth technologies have the potential to address this palliative care access gap. Oncology Associated Symptoms and Individualized Strategies (OASIS) web-app was developed to provide tailored cancer symptom self-management support and address this gap. Methods: A two-phased, mixed-methods design was used to: (1) assess stakeholder needs and opinions on the role of eHealth technologies to manage cancer symptoms; and (2) beta test a symptom self-management web-app. Adult patients with advanced cancer and clinic staff from two rural cancer clinics were recruited. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to analyze the patient interviews and staff focus groups. Themes related to symptom management needs and the role of technology were identified. OASIS was developed to address the themes found in phase 1. OASIS consists of 57 self-management strategies for 15 cancer symptoms and a visual symptom/strategy tracker for patients to monitor their symptoms and improve their self-management skills. Results: n = 15 patients were interviewed and n = 11 staff participated in focus groups. Themes identified were “fatalistic acceptance”, “teaching self how to manage symptoms”, and “balancing information needs”. To address these themes OASIS was developed and beta-tested with n = 10 rural residents with advanced cancer. 100% of participants were able to access OASIS via their home internet connection, 80% understood how to use the web-app after one 15 min teaching session, and 50% requested access to the web-app for family to help them with their symptoms. Conclusions: Patients and staff in rural communities have significant cancer symptom management needs and are interested in using eHealth technologies to address these needs. OASIS was found to be accessible, user friendly, easily navigated, and visually appealing. Future research is needed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability as well as the efficacy of OASIS.

scholarly journals Implementation of Symptom Protocols for Nurses Providing Telephone-Based Cancer Symptom Management: A Comparative Case Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 420-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Stacey ◽  
Esther Green ◽  
Barbara Ballantyne ◽  
Joy Tarasuk ◽  
Myriam Skrutkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Symptom Management ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Cancer Symptom Management
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