Prerequisites required for the provision and use of web-based communication for psychosocial support in haematologic care

Patient and families' perspectives on telepalliative care: A systematic integrative review

BACKGROUND

Telepalliative care is increasingly used in palliative care, but has yet to be examined from a patient and family perspective. A synthesis of evidence may provide knowledge on how to plan and provide telepalliative care that caters specifically to patients and families' needs.

OBJECTIVE

To synthesise evidence on patients and families' perspectives on telepalliative care.

DESIGN

A systematic integrative review (PROSPERO #CRD42022301206) reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Inclusion criteria; primary peer-reviewed studies published 2011-2022, patient and family perspective, >18 years, telepalliative care and English/Danish language. Quality was appraised using the mixed-methods appraisal tool, version 2020. Guided by Toronto and Remington, data were extracted, thematically analysed and synthesised.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched in March 2022 and updated in February 2023.

RESULTS

Forty-four studies were included. Analysis revealed five themes; the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on telepalliative care, adding value for patients and families, synchronous and asynchronous telepalliative care, the integration of telepalliative care with other services and the tailoring and timing of telepalliative care.

CONCLUSION

Enhanced access to care and convenience, as attributes of telepalliative care, are highly valued. Patients and families have varying needs during the illness trajectory that may be addressed by early integration of telepalliative care based on models of care that are flexible and combine synchronous and asynchronous solutions. Further research should examine telepalliative care in a post-pandemic context, use of models of care and identify meaningful outcome measures from patient and family perspectives for evaluation of telepalliative care.

Telemedicine Use Among Caregivers of Cancer Patients: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

The number of published studies and systematic reviews examining different telehealth interventions targeting patients and their effects on patients' well-being and quality of life have grown in recent decades. However, the use of telemedicine tools aimed at the family members and caregivers of adult cancer patients is less defined.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to conduct a systematic review to provide a more complete picture regarding telemedicine tools for informal caregivers (usually family members or close friends) implemented in all phases of cancer care. More specifically, the review aimed to better describe the study samples' characteristics, to analyze measured outcomes and the specific questionnaires used to assess them, and to describe in depth the implemented interventions and their formats. Finally, we examined the role of telehealth, and usability and feasibility trends in supporting patients' caregivers.

METHODS

We systematically searched the literature in the following databases: Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO. Inclusion criteria were being written in English, published in peer-reviewed journals, describing a telehealth-implemented intervention, and focusing on caregivers of adult cancer patients at any stage of the disease. We selected studies published up to November 2017. We critically appraised included articles using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and graded the quality of evidence by outcome using the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine framework.

RESULTS

We included 24 studies in the final selection. In 21 of the 24 studies, the patient-caregiver dyad was analyzed, and the study population dealt with different types of cancer at different stages. Included studies considered the caregiver's condition from both an individual and a relational point of view. Along with psychosocial variables, some studies monitored engagement and user satisfaction regarding Web-based platforms or telehealth interventions. All studies reported significant improvements in some of the investigated areas, but they often showed small effect sizes. Two types of telehealth intervention formats were used: Web-based platforms and telephone calls. Some of the included studies referred to the same project, but on study samples with different cancer diagnoses or with new versions of previously developed interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Reported outcomes seem to suggest that we are in an exploratory phase. More detailed and targeted research hypotheses are still needed. Clarifying caregivers' needs related to telehealth tools and better defining outcome measures may yield more significant results.

Cancer Survivors' Experience With Telehealth: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis

BACKGROUND

Net survival rates of cancer are increasing worldwide, placing a strain on health service provision. There is a drive to transfer the care of cancer survivors-individuals living with and beyond cancer-to the community and encourage them to play an active role in their own care. Telehealth, the use of technology in remote exchange of data and communication between patients and health care professionals (HCPs), is an important contributor to this evolving model of care. Telehealth interventions are "complex," and understanding patient experiences of them is important in evaluating their impact. However, a wider view of patient experience is lacking as qualitative studies detailing cancer survivor engagement with telehealth are yet to be synthesized.

OBJECTIVE

To systematically identify, appraise, and synthesize qualitative research evidence on the experiences of adult cancer survivors participating in telehealth interventions, to characterize the patient experience of telehealth interventions for this group.

METHODS

Medline (PubMed), PsychINFO, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (CINAHL), Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched on August 14, 2015, and March 8, 2016, for English-language papers published between 2006 and 2016. Inclusion criteria were as follows: adult cancer survivors aged 18 years and over, cancer diagnosis, experience of participating in a telehealth intervention (defined as remote communication or remote monitoring with an HCP delivered by telephone, Internet, or hand-held or mobile technology), and reporting qualitative data including verbatim quotes. An adapted Critical Appraisal Skill Programme (CASP) checklist for qualitative research was used to assess paper quality. The results section of each included article was coded line by line, and all papers underwent inductive analysis, involving comparison, reexamination, and grouping of codes to develop descriptive themes. Analytical themes were developed through an iterative process of reflection on, and interpretation of, the descriptive themes within and across studies.

RESULTS

Across the 22 included papers, 3 analytical themes emerged, each with 3 descriptive subthemes: (1) influence of telehealth on the disrupted lives of cancer survivors (convenience, independence, and burden); (2) personalized care across physical distance (time, space, and the human factor); and (3) remote reassurance-a safety net of health care professional connection (active connection, passive connection, and slipping through the net). Telehealth interventions represent a convenient approach, which can potentially minimize treatment burden and disruption to cancer survivors' lives. Telehealth interventions can facilitate an experience of personalized care and reassurance for those living with and beyond cancer; however, it is important to consider individual factors when tailoring interventions to ensure engagement promotes benefit rather than burden.

CONCLUSIONS

Telehealth interventions can provide cancer survivors with independence and reassurance. Future telehealth interventions need to be developed iteratively in collaboration with a broad range of cancer survivors to maximize engagement and benefit.

Caring Through Web-Based Communication: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Nursing Intervention to Create Holistic Well-Being Among Patients With Hematological Disease

Purpose: To examine how written communication between patients with hematological diseases and a nurse within a web-based communication service can be caring. Design: The study is based on qualitative deductive content analysis of 109 written messages between 10 patients and a responding nurse. The evaluated nursing intervention is a web-based communication service where patients could request support from a responding nurse during 2 months of use. A structured theoretical matrix based on Swanson’s theory of caring including compassion, competence, and upholding trust is used for the analysis. Findings: Nursing compassion emerges when patients share personal matters and the nurse has an opportunity to explicitly display genuine interest and understanding. Nursing competence is required when patients ask for or are in need of information, advice, and emotional support. The nurse can uphold trust when compassion and competence are exhibited and patients share their innermost feelings. Conclusions: Web-based communication has the potential to contribute to holistic well-being according to Swanson’s theory of caring. The written word lasts, can be read repeatedly, and in connection with writing there is time for reflection. However, the lack of nonverbal cues makes it important that the nurse answers in a fully accurate and explicitly caring way.

The meaning of web-based communication for support: from the patients' perspective within a hematological healthcare setting

BACKGROUND

Being critically ill with a hematological disease is a challenge, sometimes causing a need for support in the adjustment to the stressful life situation. By providing Web-based communication for support from a nurse, patients get access to an alternative and untraditional way to communicate their issues.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to describe the meaning of using Web-based communication for support from a patient perspective.

METHODS

A comprehensive randomized pilot study (n = 30) was conducted, allowing 15 patients in the experimental group to have access to the Web-based communication, to evaluate feasibility. Of these 15 participants, 10 were interviewed, focusing on their experiences. An empirical hermeneutical approach was used and the interpretive analysis focused on the meanings.

RESULTS

Web-based communication for support means a space for patients to have their say, consolidation of a matter, an extended caring relationship, access to individual medical assessment, and an opportunity for emotional processing. The main interpretation indicates that the patient's influence on the communication strengthens according to the asynchronous, faceless, and written communication. The increased, and in some sense constant, access to an individual medical and caring assessment, in turn, implies a feeling of safety.

CONCLUSION

Web-based communication for support seems to have the potential to enhance patients' participation on their own terms.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

To achieve the possible advantages of Web-based communication for support, nurses must acquire knowledge about caring writing. It requires respect for the patient and articulated accuracy and attention in the response given.

Facilitators and barriers for electronic social support

BACKGROUND

Nonprofit cancer societies play an important role in providing social support for patients with cancer through nonprofit electronic counselling services (ECS) provided by counselling nurses (CNs) with experience in oncology nursing. To date, there exist only few studies addressing the facilitators and barriers for social support of patients with cancer as reported by CNs.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the facilitators and barriers for electronic social support of patients with cancer received from the ECS in the nonprofit cancer societies as reported by CNs.

METHODS

Qualitative design with three group interviews was conducted with 10 CNs in three nonprofit cancer societies in southern and western parts of Finland. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and content analysed inductively.

FINDINGS

The facilitators were promotion of the access to ECS, functioning structures of ECS, utilisation of the strengths of an individual CN in ECS, promotion of the life management of patients, patient-centeredness as a basis of ECS and reliability of ECS. The barriers for electronic social support were the unmet paths between ECS and patients, nonfunctioning structures of ECS, inadequacy of mutual communication and lack of shared viewpoints between CNs and patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Facilitators and barriers for electronic social support of patients with cancer were related to organisation, individuals and counselling process. The counselling work in ECS as its best promotes the life management of patients with cancer but, alternatively, can lead to conflicts in communication and therefore be a barrier for electronic social support.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

To make the nonprofit ECS better known, the cooperation with hospitals is needed to enable social support for patients. To improve communication between CNs and patients, continuous communications skills training and functional working environments are needed.