None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of this study is to evaluate a multimodal prehabilitation model of care, designed to support patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) to prepare for the physical and psychological impacts of radiotherapy (RT). Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 years or older and you are scheduled to receive radiotherapy as a treatment for your head and neck cancer. Study details All participants who choose to enrol in this study will be asked to complete a screening survey at a routine appointment with their specialist nurse consultant. This screening will involve completing a series of questionnaires. It is anticipated that this screening survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. All participants will then receive access to the 'Preparing for Head and Neck Radiotherapy (Prep-4-RT)' self-management resources created by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Participants will be encouraged to engage with the resources at least once prior to their scheduled radiotherapy sessions. Information provided in the resources includes videos, written and pictorial information sheets and links to other relevant resources on the topics of “introducing prehabilitation”, “what is it like to go through radiotherapy?”, “preparing for radiotherapy: how do you do it?”, “guide to feeding tubes” and “guidance for carers and support people”. If during the screening process any participants are identified to be at risk of psychological distress, malnutrition, sarcopenia, eating difficulties or poor physical functioning, they will also be referred for a one-on-one appointment with a psychologist, dietitian, speech pathologist or physiotherapist for specialist prehabilitation. At least one appointment with each of the required disciplines will be scheduled prior to the participant's first radiotherapy treatment session and further appointments will be scheduled as clinically indicated. It is hoped this research will determine whether the self-managed patient resources and specialist prehabilitation sessions are acceptable to patients with head and neck cancer and the staff involved in their care. If these processes are found to be acceptable and helpful to patients and staff, a larger trial of these care pathways may be trialled in a greater number of patients.
Interventions
Patients with head and neck cancer planned for radiotherapy will receive screening for risk of physical and psychological concerns. All patients planned for radiotherapy will receive Preparing for Head and Neck Radiotherapy (Prep-4-RT) self-management resources. Patients who are identified in the high risk range for psychological distress, malnutrition, sarcopenia, eating difficulties or poor physical functioning, will be referred for a one-on-one appointment with a psychologist, dietitian, spee
Patients with head and neck cancer planned for radiotherapy will receive screening for risk of physical and psychological concerns. All patients planned for radiotherapy will receive Preparing for Head and Neck Radiotherapy (Prep-4-RT) self-management resources. Patients who are identified in the high risk range for psychological distress, malnutrition, sarcopenia, eating difficulties or poor physical functioning, will be referred for a one-on-one appointment with a psychologist, dietitian, speech pathologist or physiotherapist for specialist prehabilitation. Feasibility and acceptability data of the self-management and specialist prehabilitation pathways will be collected. SELF-MANAGEMENT The Prep-4-RT resources comprise of 5 webpages on the following topics: Introduction to Prehabilitation; What to expect?; How to prepare?; Guide to feeding tubes; Guidance for carers and support people. Each webpage has a short video with information from clinicians and consumers, as well as written and pictorial information sheets and links to relevant resources. It is anticipated participants will need between 30 to 60 minutes to review the resources. These resources are readily available at: www.petermac.org/Prep-4-RT. Webpage analytics will be monitored to provide an indication of webpage access, usage and adherence. SPECIALIST PREHABILITATION: Screening for specialist prehabilitation was a short online survey completed on an ipad with a head and neck nurse consultant as part of the clinical interview at the first nursing appointment. The survey is estimated to take 5-10 minutes. Screening will be completed within 7 days of enrolment. Enrolment is the day patients are identified as planned for radiotherapy treatment. One-on-one appointments with specialist clinicians are anticipated to have a duration of between 30-60 minutes. A one-on-one appointment will be provided with each specialist discipline for which a participant meets the high risk criteria (e.g. scoring high risk for malnutrition and mental health would trigger one-on-one prehabilitation with a dietitian and psychologist). The timing of the appointments is that at least one appointment is provided prior to commencing radiotherapy with additional appointments scheduled as clinically indicated. Adherence to specialist prehabilitation appointments will be monitored by audit of appointment attendance, compliance and barriers to engagement.
Sponsors
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• Be aged 18 years or older at the time of recruitment • Be able to speak and read English • Be able to give informed consent (i.e., no psychiatric/cognitive condition that would impact informed consent, as based on clinical judgement) • Be planned for radiotherapy for HNC
Exclusion criteria
• Planned for palliative radiotherapy (e.g., less than 40Gy) • Reporting extreme distress (e.g., risk of harm to themselves or psychotic symptoms)
Outcome results
None listed