Abstract
Complementary medicine (CM) use is prevalent among cancer patients, yet it is often not assessed by oncology healthcare providers (HCPs). The purpose of this study was to evaluate oncology HCPs' knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding CM use before and after the implementation of a practice guideline focusing on standardizing assessment and documentation of CM. Oncology HCPs across a provincial cancer agency were invited to participate in the study. The implementation strategy included an initial education session for HCPs and standardized CM assessment forms. Pre-post surveys assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to CM were completed by HCPs prior to attending the education session and following the 4-month implementation period. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine differences between baseline and follow-up surveys. A total of 31 oncology HCPs completed both baseline and follow-up surveys, with over 3700 patient CM assessment forms being completed during the 4-month study period. At the end of the study, HCPs reported greater CM knowledge (p < 0.001), readiness to support cancer patients' CM decisions (p = 0.002), and willingness to consult with another HCP about CM (p = 0.004). No significant change in HCPs' reported attitudes towards CM, orotherclinical practices related to CM were observed. Implementing a practice guideline, including a CM education session and a standardized assessment form, was found to improve oncology HCPs' self-reported CM knowledge and readiness to answer cancer patients' questions about CM. The findings provide support for future knowledge translation research aimed at standardizing how CM is addressed within cancer care settings.
Highlights
Complementary medicine (CM) is defined by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health as ‘a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine’ [1]
The findings provide support for future knowledge translation research aimed at standardizing how CM is addressed within cancer care settings
Of the 13 healthcare providers (HCPs) that withdrew from the study: four participants did not provide a reason; two participants left their role at the cancer agency; two said they lacked time; and five psychosocial oncology providers, on reflection, deemed the assessment of CM to not be within their scope of practice
Summary
Complementary medicine (CM) is defined by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health as ‘a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine’ [1]. It is estimated that up to 80% of individuals with cancer use CM [2, 3] and while some CM therapies are safe and effective [4], others may pose risks [5, 6]. Individuals with cancer have reported hesitancy in disclosing CM use to their oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially if they are not asked about such therapies [10,11,12]. Reasons for non-disclosure may include a lack of rapport with HCPs, how questions about CM are framed, fears of medical scepticism, and concerns about damaging the patient-clinician relationship [11, 12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
