Exploring Colorectal Cancer Survivors' Perspectives on Improving Care Delivery and the Role of E-health Technology: a Qualitative Study

Overview

Journal Support Care Cancer

Specialties Critical Care
Oncology

Date 2023 Aug 31

PMID 37650936

Authors

Liza van Deursen

Jiska J Aardoom

Eva E Alblas

Jeroen N Struijs

Niels H Chavannes

Rosalie van der Vaart

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gather insights from colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors on how to improve care for CRC survivors and how e-health technology could be utilized to improve CRC care delivery.

Methods: Three semi-structured focus groups were held with sixteen CRC survivors. To initiate the discussion, an online registration form and two vignettes were used. The data was analyzed using the framework method.

Results: Based on survivors' experiences, five themes were identified as opportunities for improving CRC care delivery. These themes include better recognition of complaints and faster referrals, more information as part of the care delivery, more guidance and monitoring of health outcomes, more collaboration between practitioners, and more attention for partners and relatives. In addition, survivors expressed opportunities for using e-health to facilitate information provision, improve communication, and monitor survivors' health conditions.

Conclusion: Several suggestions for improvement of CRC care delivery were identified. These often translated into possibilities for e-health to support or improve CRC care delivery. The ideas of survivors align with the vast array of existing e-health resources that can be utilized to enhance CRC care delivery. Therefore, the next step involves addressing the implementation gap between the needs of stakeholders, such as CRC survivors and healthcare providers, and the e-health tools currently available in clinical practice.

Citing Articles

A Machine Learning Approach Using Topic Modeling to Identify and Assess Experiences of Patients With Colorectal Cancer: Explorative Study.

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