e-Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2021

Development, Acceptability and Uptake of an on-line anxiety and depression education program for oncology health professionals (ADAPT program) (#295)

Joanne Shaw 1 , Karen Allison 1 , Jessica Cuddy 1 , Toni Lindsay 2 , Peter Grimison 2 , Heather Shepherd 1 3 , Phyllis Butow 1 , Tim Shaw 3 , Kate Baychek 4 , The ADAPT Program Group 5 , Brian Kelly 6
  1. School of Psychology, Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW, Australia
  5. ADAPT Program, Group
  6. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Background: Anxiety and depression screening and management in cancer settings occurs inconsistently in Australia. We developed a clinical pathway (ADAPT CP) to promote standardized assessment and response to affected patients and enhance uptake of psychosocial interventions. Health professional education is a common strategy utilised to support implementation of practice change interventions. We developed an interactive on-line education program to support staff communication and confidence with anxiety/depression screening and referral prior to the ADAPT CP being implemented in 12 oncology services participating in the ADAPT CP cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT). This study aimed to assess acceptability and uptake of the education program.

Methods: Development was informed by oncology and communication literature. The five online modules were pilot tested with 12 oncology nurses who participated in standardised medical simulations. Acceptability and uptake were assessed across the 12 Oncology services participating in the ADAPT CRCT.

Results: During pilot testing the online training was reported to be acceptable and overall communication and confidence improved for all participants post training. However, during the ADAPT CRCT uptake was low (7%; n=20). Although those who accessed the training reported it to be valuable, competing demands and online format reportedly limited HPs’ capacity and willingness to undertake training.

Conclusions: This interactive on-line training provides strategies and communication skills for frontline staff to guide these important conversations. Building workforce skills, knowledge and confidence is crucial for the successful implementation of practice change interventions. However, despite being acceptable during pilot testing, low uptake in real world settings highlights organisational support and incentivisation for frontline staff to undertake training is critical for wider engagement. A multimodal approach to delivery of training to cater for staff preferences for face to face and/or online staff may maximise training uptake and increase effectiveness of training interventions.