Identifying and responding to anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients: Pilot testing of an on-line communication skills education program for oncology health professionals

The intervention is an online training program designed for cancer health professionals and provides education on a clinical pathway into the screening and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients. The online training modules provide health professionals with communication skills training and practical tips for having conversations with patients about screening and talking to patients about referrals for anxiety and depression. The training modules include videos of example scenarios (played by actors) to teach these skills. The online education also includes videos from current health professionals talking about their experiences of screening and management of patients with anxiety and depression. The online training takes 4 hours to complete however does not need to be completed in a single sitting. Participants may save their progress at any time and return to complete later. The training is made up of 5 modules: Module 1: Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Module 2: A Stepped Care Model for Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Module 3: Initiating a Conversation about Routine Screening for Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Module 4: Initiating a Conversation about Referral to Psycho-oncology Services Module 5: Managing Declining Referral in at Risk Patients and other Challenging Conversations The online training will be hosted by eviQ, the Cancer Institute NSW’s clinical education website. eviQ will provide analytics to the research team to allow monitoring of adherence.