The Psychosocial Cancer Evaluation Toolkit: developing a tailored evaluation protocol and interface for the evaluation of cancer support initiatives.

The psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis and the subsequent cancer journey on the individual is well recognised within the psycho-oncology literature, and within the UK alone there exists a plethora of psychosocial interventions and initiatives that seek to support those affected by cancer through a variety of mechanisms. Whilst clinical care and treatment of cancer are delivered within the UK National Health Service (NHS), a significant amount of psychosocial care is delivered through third sector organisations in the form of cancer charities, yet these suffer from a lack of robust and comparable evaluation. This thesis presents a body of applied research, funded through a KESS II studentship in partnership with Wales-based cancer charity Tenovus Cancer Care, that uniquely combines the disciplines of health psychology and applied computing to develop and evaluate an evaluation protocol and research outcome interface (T:POT) that addresses the current lack of systematic evaluation protocols available for Tenovus and other cancer charities. Firstly, a systematic literature review identified and evaluated the methodological quality of existing psychosocial patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) and led to the identification of eleven cancer-specific PROMS, many of which captured similar or overlapping constructs such as quality of life, anxiety and depression. Informed by the constructs identified in this review, empirical study one employed a modified online Delphi technique to attain expert consensus on which psychosocial health constructs were considered the most important and relevant to measure when evaluating the psychosocial impact of a cancer support service. 24 psychosocial constructs were identified that were then mapped against the PROMS to produce a core set of outcome measures which capture quality of life, unmet needs, loneliness and fear of cancer recurrence These measures formed the basis of the Tenovus: Psychosocial Outcomes Toolkit (T:POT) housed within a bespoke computer interface. Empirical study two contained a series of user-experience testing techniques including Think Aloud methodology to pilot the acceptability and usability of the T:POT interface and revealed overall that the system works well and for most elements was considered above average against the benchmark standards. The interface achieved the desired outcome, it was considered easy to use and that confidence would grow with more use. This process also allowed for design issues to be identified and then refined for the final product. The final empirical study was an evaluation of T:POT with an existing Tenovus Cancer Support Initiative and revealed the need for further development of some aspects of T:POT and the need for a larger scale evaluation and ongoing development work.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Cooke, Zoe

• BF Seicoleg
• H Gwyddorau Cymdeithasol (Cyffredinol)

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:2984