Abstract
Introduction
Indigenous Australians have a higher cancer incidence, worse mortality and are less likely to receive optimal cancer treatment compared with non-Indigenous Australians. Culturally appropriate supportive care helps ensure that Indigenous patients engage in and receive optimal care. However, many existing supportive care needs tools lack cultural relevance for Indigenous people, and their feasibility with Indigenous people has not been demonstrated. The Supportive Care Needs Assessment Tool for Indigenous People (SCNAT-IP) assesses the unmet supportive care needs of Indigenous cancer patients.
Purpose
This descriptive study evaluates the clinical implementation of the SCNAT-IP in routine care.
Methods
Two large tertiary cancer treatment centres and two regional oncology clinics participated. Participants included 10 clinical staff and 36 adult Indigenous cancer patients (mean age 54 years). Patients and clinicians completed brief, purpose-designed questionnaires and interviews.
Results
Patients reported high ratings (means >8/10) for acceptability, helpfulness and timing items. The majority (≥80 %) of staff agreed that the SCNAT-IP was useful to clinical practice, should be used in routine care and was acceptable to their patients.
Conclusions
The study provides empirical support for the feasibility and acceptability of the SCNAT-IP in routine cancer care with Indigenous Australians. Routine screening with the SCNAT-IP has the potential to improve cancer care for Indigenous people with cancer.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a grant from the Lowitja Institute, Australia’s National Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. This study was undertaken under the auspices of the Centre of Research Excellence in Discovering Indigenous Strategies to improve Cancer Outcomes Via Engagement, Research Translation and Training (DISCOVER-TT CRE, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council #1041111). PCV was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (#FT100100511). The authors wish to thank Mrs. Margaret Lawton and Ms. Celia Moore (Indigenous consumer representatives) and Dr. Mick Adams for their assistance with developing training materials for this study. We also thank the Indigenous people with cancer and staff who participated in this study for their time and enthusiasm. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. The content of the manuscript was subject to approval by the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW in accordance with the standard conditions of their ethical approval.
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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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Members of the SCNAT-IP Implementation Group include Andrea Franke, Janelle Parks, Ivan Goolagong, Gwenda Stewart, Melissa Mudie, Jennifer Garner, Hamlata Bhana, Tegan Murnane, Annette Betharis, Fiona Wiseman, Lucy Pollard.
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Garvey, G., Thewes, B., He, V.F.Y. et al. Indigenous cancer patient and staff attitudes towards unmet needs screening using the SCNAT-IP. Support Care Cancer 24, 215–223 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2770-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2770-1