Poster with mini oral Clinical Oncology Society of Australia 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting

Patient and Clinician Perceptions of the Feasibility and Utility of Routine Unmet Needs Screening for Indigenous Australians with Cancer. (#360)

Gail Garvey 1 , Belinda Thewes 1 , Vincent He 1 , Esther Davis 1 , Afaf Girgis 2 3 , Patricia Valery 1 , Kar Giam 4 , Alison Hocking 5 , Jackie Jackson 6 , Victoria Jones 7 , Desmond Yip 8
  1. Menzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  2. South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research , Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
  4. Alan Walker Cancer Centre, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  5. Department of Social Work, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  6. Aboriginal Health, Southern NSW Local Health District, Moruya, NSW, Australia
  7. Psycho-oncology Service , Southern NSW Local Health District, Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia
  8. Department of Medical Oncology, The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia

BACKGROUND: Indigenous Australians have poorer cancer outcomes than other Australians. Unmet needs assessment can help clinicians identify and manage patient concerns and are particularly useful for underserved populations. Despite this, few studies have evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of needs screening in routine care settings. The Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) assesses the unmet supportive care needs of Indigenous cancer patients. This study evaluates the clinical implementation of SCNAT-IP in routine care. METHODS: Four metropolitan/regional oncology clinics in three Australian States and territories participated. Participants included 10 clinical staff and 36 adult Indigenous cancer patients (mean age 54 years) with heterogeneous tumours.  Patients and clinicians completed brief purpose-designed questionnaires and interviews. RESULTS:  Patients reported high ratings (means >8/10) for acceptability, helpfulness and timing items.  Higher education, awaiting surgery and comorbidity were significantly associated with higher patient acceptability (p<0.05).  The majority (≥80%) of staff agreed that the SCNAT-IP was useful to clinical practice, should be used in routine care, and was acceptable to their patients. Patient and staff qualitative data suggests the SCNAT-IP improves patient-clinician communication, may detect issues not identified by current care protocols, and may be most appropriate early in the treatment trajectory. Qualitative data from staff identified areas for scale improvement.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results of this study provide empirical support for use of the SCNAT-IP in routine cancer care with Indigenous Australians. Strategies to promote the dissemination and uptake of the SCNAT-IP are currently underway. A large nationwide study using the SCNAT-IP to explore the unmet needs of Indigenous Australian cancer patients is underway. Routine use of the SCNAT-IP has the potential to improve cancer outcomes for Indigenous people with cancer.