Aim:
With consideration for growing clinic numbers and acknowledgement of the urgent need to address the increasing number of patients diagnosed and living through the cancer experience, the Barwon health cancer service aimed to address survivorship needs of the cancer population by initiating a nurse led clinic. This decision was supported by the growing evidence of the benefits of nurse led clinics to improve outcomes for cancer survivors with multi-faceted needs.
Method:
An 18 month project was funded by the Victorian Department of Health in July 2012. To date the project has initiated and commenced evaluating a nurse led survivorship service within curative treatment trajectories. A focus on the sustainability of the intervention has been flagged by the team.
The project and clinic commenced first at the regional cancer facility to test and refine the process. Subsequently a rural cancer service introduced an adapted model of this nurse led survivorship model of care.
The study participants were recruited following completion of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment within the regional cancer service. The suitable candidates were invited to attend two nurse led interviews. The intervention also aims to develop resources for use by primary care practitioners for use when caring for cancer survivors.
Results:
The project utilises the HLQ, AQOL, heiQ, patient satisfaction to measure quality of life, health literacy and acceptance of the process by the participants and care providers. The participants were surveyed before, after the nurse led intervention and three months later. The projects preliminary results will be discussed.