What are the Facilitators and Barriers to Improving the Delivery of Survivorship Care Information to Rural Cancer Survivors? A Qualitative Study Using an Implementation Science Framework.

Objective: To identify facilitators and barriers to improving communication of survivorship care information to rural cancer survivors from the perspective of healthcare professionals. Setting: Metropolitan and rural health services provide care to rural cancer survivors. Participants: Healthcare pr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 1 - 26
Autores principales: Johnston, Elizabeth A., Bourdaniotis, Xanthia E., Ayre, Susannah K., Fung, Hayley, Craig, Nicole, Crawford‐Williams, Fiona, Bergin, Rebecca J., Emery, Jon D., Chan, Raymond J., Goodwin, Belinda C.
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Nov2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Objective: To identify facilitators and barriers to improving communication of survivorship care information to rural cancer survivors from the perspective of healthcare professionals. Setting: Metropolitan and rural health services provide care to rural cancer survivors. Participants: Healthcare professionals (n = 31), including cancer specialists, general practitioners, nurses, care coordinators and allied health practitioners. Design: Qualitative descriptive study using semi‐structured interviews to assess current practices for communicating survivorship care information, perspectives on how this information should be delivered and factors that may affect the implementation of a new method for delivering this information. Responses were categorised as a facilitator or barrier to improving information delivery. Barriers and facilitators were mapped to constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to identify the settings and contexts in which they occur. Results: Facilitators included the evidence base and relative advantage of improving survivorship care information delivery to rural cancer survivors, indicating that healthcare professionals perceive this initiative as important and valuable. Participants also reported a tension for change (i.e., current practices for information delivery are not sustainable) and mission alignment, meaning improving survivorship information to rural cancer survivors is within participants' organisations' goals. Barriers included local conditions, policies and laws and financing, including challenges accessing support services in rural settings and limited funding for post‐treatment care. Conclusions: Guiding principles and suggested actions for improving survivorship care information delivery to rural cancer survivors are proposed, including strategies for minimising burden on healthcare teams, formalising transitional practices, streamlining referral pathways, partnering with community services and including family carers. What Is Already Known On This Subject: Quality survivorship care is key to sustaining the health and wellbeing of cancer survivors as they transition from specialist treatment to primary and community care.Essential to quality survivorship care is the delivery of information to support individuals to monitor for cancer recurrence and secondary cancers, manage physical side‐effects and engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours.Rural cancer survivors in Australia report substantial gaps in the receipt of information needed to effectively self‐manage their long‐term health and wellbeing upon returning to their homes and local communities. What This Paper Adds: An understanding of the facilitators and barriers to improving the delivery of survivorship care information to rural cancer survivors from the perspective of a diverse range of health care professionals involved in their care.Practical insights for designing a new, implementation‐ready guideline, method, or system for delivering survivorship care information to rural cancer survivors based on real‐world conditions.Evidence‐based guiding principles and suggested actions for improving survivorship care information delivery to rural cancer survivors.