None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to test out a consumer engagement strategy called Making it Meaningful (MiM). The MiM has been designed for people who use cancer services and may be undergoing a change in their medications. Eligibility criteria: Outpatients who are receiving treatment or care at participating cancer service and aged 18 years or older will be eligible to take part. Patients who attend the service must identify their primary language as English or Mandarin to be eligible to participate Study details Participants who choose to enroll in this study will be randomly allocated to either receive the MiM medication management tool, or to receive standard care provided by the cancer service. Participants who are allocated to the MiM group will attend an appointment with their health practitioner (medical practitioner) who will use the Make it Meaningful Tool (MiM) to facilitate communication at the individual appointment where medications are changed. It is anticipated that this appointment will take no longer than your usual consultation. The health care practitioner will provide a paper copy of the MiM for the patient to take away from the appointment. The health care practitioner will also provide instructions to the patient about how the tool can be used to inform them of who to contact if they have any concerns about medication, treatment or experience side effects, etc.. Participants who are allocated to the standard care group will not receive the MiM tool, they will instead discuss the medication management together with their health care practitioner using the usual care strategy currently provided. All participants will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires over the phone when they first agree to participate in the study, 1 week and then 4 weeks after the medication discussion with their health care practitioner. It is expected that completion of these questionnaires will take 15 minutes. It is hoped this research will determine that use of the MiM tool is practical and acceptable to cancer patients. If this small study shows that the MiM tool is helpful for cancer patients, it may be studied further in a larger trial that may lead to improvements in medication communication for cancer patients in the future
Interventions
The MiM is a two-page medication management tool that provides patient with information about common-side effects of the medication and the appropriate contact person to reach out if they have any questions or concerns about their medications, appointment, treatment or medication side effects. The MiM was co-designed with patients and clinicians from Australian cancer services. Three co-design workshops, each lasting for approximately two and half hours were conducted over a period of three week
The MiM is a two-page medication management tool that provides patient with information about common-side effects of the medication and the appropriate contact person to reach out if they have any questions or concerns about their medications, appointment, treatment or medication side effects. The MiM was co-designed with patients and clinicians from Australian cancer services. Three co-design workshops, each lasting for approximately two and half hours were conducted over a period of three weeks. In first workshop, participant democratically selected the issue of medication safety in outpatient setting to address. In second workshop, brainstormed various strategies to address the issue and in the third and final workshop, the prototype for MIM was developed. This prototype was further refined with email feedback from participants. The process of developing the MiM is described in a peer-reviewed publication available through the following link - https://pxjournal.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1732&context=journal Participants allocated to the intervention group will attend their usual consultation or appointment. The health practitioner will use the MiM along with the usual care to facilitate communication about medication management at the consultation and provide a paper copy of the MiM for the patient to take away with them. Participants will take part in verbal phone surveys at three time points (before the consultation, a week after the consultation and a month after the consultation).
Sponsors
Macquarie University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion and exclusion criteria for patients: • Outpatients receiving treatment and care at Macquarie Health cancer service. • Be 18 years or older. • Self-identify as from Mandarin or English-speaking background. • Willing to give written consent and participate in the study. Inclusion criteria for health practitioners. • Employed at MQ Health cancer service. • Have used the MiM tool.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria for patients • People who experience a sudden deterioration in health where participation would be considered an undue burden. Exclusion criteria for healthcare staff: • Staff who have not used the MIM tool
Outcome results
None listed