Aims: Lung cancer patients experience a high symptom burden and high levels of psychological distress. As a result this is a patient group that regularly require allied health intervention. There is, however, only limited data on allied health utilisation upon which evidence based recommendations can be made to inform service delivery to this patient cohort into the future. Since it opened in March 2011, the Sunshine Hospital Radiotherapy centre has treated 174 lung patients. These numbers are set to increase in the future as the centre is located in an area with one of the fastest population growth in Australia. Further, the western region of Melbourne encompasses a diverse social, economic, cultural and linguistic population which results in high patient needs for allied health and additional challenges in service delivery. This study will be to identify the type and prevalence of allied health interventions with patients diagnosed with lung cancer over a period of 12 months in the radiotherapy setting.
Methods: Electronic appointment data for every lung cancer patient treated at the Sunshine Hospital Radiotherapy Centre over 12 months from 1/1/2013 to 31/12/2013 will be analysed to examine the number and type of allied health interventions. The allied health team is comprised of nutrition, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, speech therapy and social work staff.
Results: It is intended that this study will provide a breakdown of use of each allied health service for lung cancer patients. Analysis will also be conducted to determine how demographic factors (eg. age, gender, culturally and linguistically diverse status) and clinical factors (eg. disease stage, length of treatment, radical or palliative intent, and treatment modalities) influence allied health utilisation amongst lung cancer patients.
Conclusions: Recommendations for allied health service delivery into the future.