Support Care Cancer DOI 10.1007/s00520-015-2756-z
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Feasibility of a quality improvement strategy integrating psychosocial care into 28 medical cancer centers (HuCare project) Rodolfo Passalacqua 1 & Maria Antonietta Annunziata 2 & Claudia Borreani 3 & Francesca Diodati 4 & Luciano Isa 5 & Jessica Saleri 1 & Claudio Verusio 6 & Caterina Caminiti 4
Received: 29 October 2014 / Accepted: 27 April 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract Purpose This study examines the development and feasibility of a quality improvement strategy for the translation of evidence-based psychosocial care into clinical practice. Methods The project involved all staff (oncologists, psychologists, and nurses) of the participating centers. Recommendations concerned: improvement of clinician communication skills; use of a patient question prompt list; assignment of a specialist nurse to each patient; screening for psychological distress and social needs; opportunity to attend a Point of Information and Support. The implementation strategy hinged on context analysis and problem solving. Four to six visits were held in each center by the project team to assist staff in identifying obstacles, finding solutions, and strengthening motivation. The primary variable was the adherence percentage to the recommendations (proportion of subjects receiving each intervention). The number of Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00520-015-2756-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Rodolfo Passalacqua [email protected] 1
Division of Medical Oncology, Istituti Ospitalieri di Cremona, Viale Concordia, 1, Cremona 26100, Italy
2
Unit of Oncological Psychology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
3
Unit of Clinical Psychology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
4
Research and Innovation Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
5
Division of Oncology, Hospital of Melegnano, Milan, Italy
6
Division of Medical Oncology, Hospital of Saronno, Saronno, Varese, Italy
centers that failed to reach the objective was also reported (adherence percentage
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Feasibility of a quality improvement strategy integrating psychosocial care into 28 medical cancer centers (HuCare project) Rodolfo Passalacqua 1 & Maria Antonietta Annunziata 2 & Claudia Borreani 3 & Francesca Diodati 4 & Luciano Isa 5 & Jessica Saleri 1 & Claudio Verusio 6 & Caterina Caminiti 4
Received: 29 October 2014 / Accepted: 27 April 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract Purpose This study examines the development and feasibility of a quality improvement strategy for the translation of evidence-based psychosocial care into clinical practice. Methods The project involved all staff (oncologists, psychologists, and nurses) of the participating centers. Recommendations concerned: improvement of clinician communication skills; use of a patient question prompt list; assignment of a specialist nurse to each patient; screening for psychological distress and social needs; opportunity to attend a Point of Information and Support. The implementation strategy hinged on context analysis and problem solving. Four to six visits were held in each center by the project team to assist staff in identifying obstacles, finding solutions, and strengthening motivation. The primary variable was the adherence percentage to the recommendations (proportion of subjects receiving each intervention). The number of Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00520-015-2756-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Rodolfo Passalacqua [email protected] 1
Division of Medical Oncology, Istituti Ospitalieri di Cremona, Viale Concordia, 1, Cremona 26100, Italy
2
Unit of Oncological Psychology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
3
Unit of Clinical Psychology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
4
Research and Innovation Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
5
Division of Oncology, Hospital of Melegnano, Milan, Italy
6
Division of Medical Oncology, Hospital of Saronno, Saronno, Varese, Italy
centers that failed to reach the objective was also reported (adherence percentage
