Barriers and facilitators to the use of survivorship care plans by hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors and clinicians

Colleen Morken, Amye J. Tevaarwerk, Mark B. Juckett, Amanda K. Swiecichowski, James E. Haine, Xiao Zhang, Zachary T. Williams, Kirsten Norslien, Bethaney Campbell, Timothy Wassenaar, Mary E. Sesto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) have complex care needs for the remainder of their lives, known as the survivorship period. Survivorship care plans (SCPs) have been proposed to improve care coordination and ultimately survivorship outcomes. We explored the barriers and facilitators of SCP use among HSCT survivors and their clinicians in order to develop more useful SCPs for the HSCT context. Methods: Analogous surveys regarding perceived barriers to and facilitators of SCP use based on a sample SCP for a female allogenic HSCT survivor were administered to HSCT survivors and non-transplant oncology and primary care clinicians. Results: Twenty-seven HSCT survivors and 18 clinicians completed the survey. The main barriers to SCP use were lack of awareness of SCP existence, uncertainty regarding where to find SCP, unclear roles and responsibilities among healthcare teams, length of SCP, and difficultly understanding SCPs. The facilitators of SCP use were increased understanding of survivorship care needs, clarified roles and responsibilities of survivors and clinicians, SCPs that are readily available and searchable in electronic health record, increased awareness of SCP existence and provision to all survivors, and if the SCP is survivor-specific and up-to-date. Conclusions: Much of the work regarding SCPs has looked at barriers to creation and provision; however, our study examines factors influencing use of SCPs. By determining the barriers and facilitators surrounding SCP use for HSCT survivors and their clinicians, we can create SCP templates and clinical workflows to optimize SCP use, ideally leading to better outcomes for HSCT survivors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1323-1330
Number of pages8
JournalSupportive Care in Cancer
Volume30
Issue number2
Early online dateSep 5 2021
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 5 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA014520 and by grant UL1TR000427 to UW ICTR from NIH/NCATS and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s Wisconsin Partnership Program WPP-ICTR grant # 3086. AJT received support from the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), grant KL2TR000428. Additional support was provided from the University of Wisconsin Graft-versus-Host Disease Fund and the Don W. Anderson Family. The Summer Research Program was funded by institutional foundation award from the Herman and Gwen Shapiro Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Barriers
  • Cancer survivor
  • Electronic health record
  • Facilitators
  • Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
  • Survivorship care plans

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