MedPath

Collaborative Network to Take Responsibility for Oral Anticancer Therapy

Not Applicable
Conditions
Lung Cancer
Melanoma
Colorectal Cancer
ALL
Prostate Cancer
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Other: Implementation of a care pathway
Registration Number
NCT02861209
Lead Sponsor
KU Leuven
Brief Summary

This study aims to develop, implement and evaluate a care pathway for patients with cancer who are treated with oral anticancer drugs (OACD).

The care pathway will be developed in six hospitals in Flanders, and will be adapted to the local setting and situation.

The investigators hypothesize that the implementation of a care pathway will increase the quality of the drug therapy, the communication between health care professionals (HCPs) and patients, and will lead to an improved level of self-management and adherence. Moreover, the invesitgators hypothesize that the care pathway will facilitate the communication between HCPs in the hospital setting and in ambulatory care, and will improve counseling skills, self-efficacy and self-confidence of HCPs.

At the end of the study, a roadmap for the nation-wide implementation of a similar care pathway will be constructed based on the experiences of the participating hospitals. This roadmap will certainly include an e-learning platform for healthcare professionals.

Detailed Description

For each hospital, an individual care pathway will be developed following the 7-phase model by Vanhaecht et al., 2011. This methodology aims to offer a systematic approach in 7 phases for the support of an interdisciplinary team in the development of new care pathways or in the improvement of existing ones.

The before-part of the study includes phases 1 to 4 that aim to map current practice in detail and to translate these findings into the development of a care pathway. Current practice will be investigated using mixed methods comprising:

* surveys evaluating care on the level of the hospital

* semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals (HCP) and patients

* outcome assessments in patients included in the study (self-management, adherence, satisfaction with care, satisfaction with information, quality of life) using validated questionnaires at the start of the therapy, after 1 month and after three months

* outcome assessments in healthcare professionals at baseline (self-efficacy and perceptions on self-management) using validated questionnaires

* training and feedback sessions on counseling for HCPs

Based upon these findings, a care pathway in each hospital will be developed by a local project team of different stakeholders from different disciplines.

The after-part of the study includes phase 5-7 in which the care pathway is implemented, evaluated and continuously followed up.

Implementation and evaluation take place at the same time. The evaluation includes:

* outcome assessments in patients (newly recruited) at the start of the therapy, after 1 month and after three months

* outcome assessments in HCPs (follow up)

* evaluation of counseling skills

* focus group discussions and interviews with HCPs to evaluate the development and implementation of the care pathway.

At the end of the study a comparison of outcomes before and after the implementation will be made to study the impact of the care pathway on the before mentioned aspects (see "Brief Summary").

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
228
Inclusion Criteria
  • a hematological cancer of solid tumor
  • starting an oral anticancer drug for the first time
  • able to understand and speak Dutch
Exclusion Criteria
  • patients following an adjuvant oral anticancer therapy (e.g. tamoxifen)
  • patients following a therapy with a study drug

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Care PathwayImplementation of a care pathwayThis arm comprises patients after the implementation of the care pathway. Patients starting with an oral anticancer therapy in this arm, receive care as is described by the novel designed care pathway. Outcomes are again assessed at start of treatment, after 1 and after 3 months. The decision to start with an oral anticancer therapy depends solely on the treating physician.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in self-management skillsat the start of the therapy, after one and three months

There is no gold standard to define self-management. A definition from Barlow et al., 2002 (2) defines self-management as follows: the ability of an individual to manage the symptoms, treatment, physical and psychosocial consequences and life style changes due to his/her condition. Adequate self-management refers to the ability to monitor one's condition and to effect cognitive, behavioural and emotional responses necessary to maintain a satisfactory quality of life.

The studied self-management skills in this project comprise "social integration and support", "health service navigation", "constructive attitudes and approaches", "skill and technique acquisition" and "emotional distress".

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in medication Adherenceafter one and three months of therapy
Change in patient satisfaction with care using Out-patsat 35at the start of the therapy, after one and three months

The outpatsat is a questionnaire for ambulatory cancer patients in which they are asked to rate in different subscales their perceptions on care delivered by doctors, nurses and rate te overall organisation (accessibility of the hospital, ease of reaching the hospital by telephone, ...) during their stay at day hospital of consultations

Health Related Quality of Lifeat the start of the therapy, after one and three months
Toxicity of treatmentat the start of the therapy, after one and three months

Summarizing adverse drug events

Change in patient satisfaction with treatment using the Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ)after one and three months
Change in Distress using the Distress Barometerat the start of the therapy, after one and three months
Efficacy of treatment Using ECOG performance scale and RECIST criteriaat the start of the therapy, after one and three months
Cost of careat the start of the therapy, after one and three months

Prospective report on health care expenditures (use of healthcare and other services, use of medicines, ...)

Trial Locations

Locations (4)

Imelda Bonheiden

🇧🇪

Bonheiden, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium

AZ Groeninge Kortrijk

🇧🇪

Kortrijk, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

AZ Turnhout

🇧🇪

Turnhout, Antwerpen, Belgium

Maria Middelares Gent

🇧🇪

Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

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