Systemic anti-cancer therapy delivery in the home: a service model

National expert consensus on home-administered oncologic therapies in Spain

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer impose a significant emotional and psychological burden on patients, families, and caregivers. Patients undergo several interventions in a hospital setting, and the increasing number of patients requiring extended care and follow-up is driving the demand for additional clinical resources to address their needs. Hospital at Home (HaH) teams have introduced home-administered oncologic therapies that represent a new model of patient-centered cancer care. This approach can be integrated with traditional models and offers benefits to both patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Home-administered treatment programs have been successfully piloted globally, demonstrated as a preferred option for most patients and a safe alternative that could reduce costs and hospital burden. The document aims to establish the minimum recommendations for the home administration of oncologic therapies (ODAH) based on a national expert agreement. The expert panel comprised seven leading members from diverse Spanish societies and three working areas: clinical and healthcare issues, logistical and administrative issues, and economic, social, and legal issues. The recommendations outlined in this article were obtained after a comprehensive literature review and thorough discussions. This document may serve as a basis for the future development of home-administered oncologic therapy programs in Spain. .

An integrated understanding of the impact of hospital at home: a mixed-methods study to articulate and test a programme theory

BACKGROUND

Hospital at Home (HaH) provides intensive, hospital-level care in patients' homes for acute conditions that would normally require hospitalisation, using multidisciplinary teams. As a programme of complex medical-social interventions, a HaH programme theory has not been fully articulated although implicit in the structures, functions, and activities of the existing HaH services. We aimed to unearth the tacit theory from international evidence and test the soundness of it by studying UK HaH services.

METHODS

We conducted a literature review (29 articles) adopting a 'realist review' approach (theory articulation) and examined 11 UK-based services by interviewing up to 3 staff members from each service (theory testing). The review and interview data were analysed using Framework Analysis and Purposive Text Analysis.

RESULTS

The programme theory has three components- the organisational, utilisation and impact theories. The impact theory consists of key assumptions about the change processes brought about by HaH's activities and functions, as detailed in the organisational and utilisation theories. HaH teams should encompass multiple disciplines to deliver comprehensive assessments and have skill sets for physically delivering hospital-level processes of care in the home. They should aim to treat a broad range of conditions in patients who are clinically complex and felt to be vulnerable to hospital acquired harms. Services should cover 7 days a week, have plans for 24/7 response and deliver relational continuity of care through consistent staffing. As a result, patients' and carers' knowledge, skills, and confidence in disease management and self-care should be strengthened with a sense of safety during HaH treatment, and carers better supported to fulfil their role with minimal added care burden.

CONCLUSIONS

There are organisational factors for HaH services and healthcare processes that contribute to better experience of care and outcomes for patients. HaH services should deliver care using hospital level processes through teams that have a focus on holistic and individually tailored care with continuity of therapeutic relationships between professionals and patients and carers resulting in less complexity and fragmentation of care. This analysis informs how HaH services can organise resources and design processes of care to optimise patient satisfaction and outcomes.