Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice

Aim: We hypothesised that patients treated for breast cancer would benefit from targeted therapeutic action delivered by general practitioners on the recommendations of a multidisciplinary team based in primary care. Methods: Patients scheduled for follow-up visits at a hospital surgical clinic were...

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Main Authors: Jiwa, Moyez, Longman, G., Sriram, Deepa, Sherriff, Jill, Briffa, Kathy, Musiello, T.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Royal College of Nursing Australia 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49718
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author Jiwa, Moyez
Longman, G.
Sriram, Deepa
Sherriff, Jill
Briffa, Kathy
Musiello, T.
author_facet Jiwa, Moyez
Longman, G.
Sriram, Deepa
Sherriff, Jill
Briffa, Kathy
Musiello, T.
author_sort Jiwa, Moyez
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Aim: We hypothesised that patients treated for breast cancer would benefit from targeted therapeutic action delivered by general practitioners on the recommendations of a multidisciplinary team based in primary care. Methods: Patients scheduled for follow-up visits at a hospital surgical clinic were invited to complete a self-administered care needs assessment and be interviewed by a breast care nurse. Members of the multidisciplinary team discussed the audio-recorded interviews within 2 weeks. The team made recommendations for each patient, which were presented to the general practitioner as a suggested ‘care plan’. Health status information was collected via the Short Form 36 and Anxiety and Depression data via the Hospital anxiety and Depression Scale at recruitment and 3 months later. Results: Among the 74 women who were invited to participate, 21 were recruited over a 6-month period (28%), 19 of whom completed the study (90%). The mean age was 55 years (range 38–61 years) and the mean time in follow-up was 23 months (range 16–38 months). The team identified a median of three problems per patient (range 2–7) and made an average of two recommendations per patient for referral to an allied health professional (range 0–5). At 3 months, 17 women had attended their general practitioner, 11 of whom felt their condition had improved as a result of the intervention. There was no significant change in Short Form 36 or Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score after the intervention. Conclusions: Primary care-based multidisciplinary review of treated breast cancer patients is feasible and, for most, results in benefit. However, only a minority of eligible patients participated in this pilot study and the logistics of organising the reviews warrants careful consideration.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-497182017-09-13T16:11:44Z Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice Jiwa, Moyez Longman, G. Sriram, Deepa Sherriff, Jill Briffa, Kathy Musiello, T. Aim: We hypothesised that patients treated for breast cancer would benefit from targeted therapeutic action delivered by general practitioners on the recommendations of a multidisciplinary team based in primary care. Methods: Patients scheduled for follow-up visits at a hospital surgical clinic were invited to complete a self-administered care needs assessment and be interviewed by a breast care nurse. Members of the multidisciplinary team discussed the audio-recorded interviews within 2 weeks. The team made recommendations for each patient, which were presented to the general practitioner as a suggested ‘care plan’. Health status information was collected via the Short Form 36 and Anxiety and Depression data via the Hospital anxiety and Depression Scale at recruitment and 3 months later. Results: Among the 74 women who were invited to participate, 21 were recruited over a 6-month period (28%), 19 of whom completed the study (90%). The mean age was 55 years (range 38–61 years) and the mean time in follow-up was 23 months (range 16–38 months). The team identified a median of three problems per patient (range 2–7) and made an average of two recommendations per patient for referral to an allied health professional (range 0–5). At 3 months, 17 women had attended their general practitioner, 11 of whom felt their condition had improved as a result of the intervention. There was no significant change in Short Form 36 or Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score after the intervention. Conclusions: Primary care-based multidisciplinary review of treated breast cancer patients is feasible and, for most, results in benefit. However, only a minority of eligible patients participated in this pilot study and the logistics of organising the reviews warrants careful consideration. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49718 10.1016/j.colegn.2012.03.007 Royal College of Nursing Australia restricted
spellingShingle Jiwa, Moyez
Longman, G.
Sriram, Deepa
Sherriff, Jill
Briffa, Kathy
Musiello, T.
Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title_full Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title_fullStr Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title_full_unstemmed Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title_short Cancer care coordinator: Promoting multidisciplinary care- A pilot study in Australian general practice
title_sort cancer care coordinator: promoting multidisciplinary care- a pilot study in australian general practice
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49718