Evaluating the Implementation of Head and Neck Cancer E-health Study (ENHANCE): A Hybrid Type 2 Implementation-effectiveness Study to Evaluate a Cancer Support App in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

The NHS Long Term Plan has an ambition to provide patients with digital services and tools to give them more control over their own health and care. Guy's Cancer Centre in London (UK) is offering patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) the use of a smartphone cancer support app. Few studies have evaluated the best way to implement apps to support patients with cancer, nor explored how they could help patients to self-manage. This is a hybrid implementation-effectiveness study to evaluate the implementation of a cancer-specific self-management app currently being used at Guy's Cancer Centre. The purpose of the study is to assess the following: (1) key implementation outcomes, including acceptability and usability; (2) barriers and facilitators to patients and staff using the app; (3) the effectiveness of the app to support patients to self-manage during treatment for HNC.

Eligible participants include patients being treated for HNC, and their oncology clinical team. The study will be conducted at Guy's Cancer Centre, a comprehensive cancer centre in London, UK.

The study will employ mixed methods. Data collection will involve questionnaires to measure the acceptability and usability of the app, and routinely collected patient-reported outcome measures. In addition, a sub-sample of participants will take part in semi-structured interviews to explore how the app was used and views about the implementation process. Findings from this study will identify barriers and facilitators to using the app and context about how it may help patients to self-manage their condition. These findings will help to refine ongoing development of digital cancer services. Findings will inform the development of recommendations for the integration of digital health in cancer services that can be shared with Cancer Alliances across the UK.