Abstract
Cancer patients and survivors can experience treatment related side effects that impact nutrition status, as well as unwanted weight loss, weight gain and poor dietary quality. Therefore, they are a group that would benefit from nutrition intervention. A qualitative study was conducted online (six focus groups and two interviews) with 12 oncology providers and 12 survivors in the United States. Participants were asked about the role of nutrition in survivors’ health, appropriate components of nutrition care for cancer patients, and strategies to integrate nutrition into oncology care. Feedback on a proposed program, “NutriCare”, was also sought. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for themes. Four main themes emerged: (1) nutrition is an important component of oncology care and source of empowerment for cancer patients; (2) in the NutriCare program, the prescription pad component was viewed as a critical aspect, and there was also a preference for dealing with patients and survivors separately; (3) for implementation, the most appropriate time for providers to talk to patients about nutrition is during the development of the treatment plan. Reinforcement of key nutrition messages by providers was also highlighted; (4) major barriers included lack of time and motivation by providers. Survivors were interested in and providers supportive of integrating nutrition into oncology care.
Highlights
Cancer patients can experience side effects of treatment that can impact nutritional intake [1,2], as well as unwanted weight loss due to cachexia [3]
NutriCare program, the prescription pad component was viewed as a critical aspect, and there was a preference for dealing with patients and survivors separately; (3) for implementation, the most appropriate time for providers to talk to patients about nutrition is during the development of the treatment plan
This paper reports on focus groups and interviews conducted with oncology providers and cancer survivors to gain insight into their views on integrating nutrition into oncology care, as well as their feedback on the content and implementation of the NutriCare program
Summary
Cancer patients can experience side effects of treatment that can impact nutritional intake [1,2], as well as unwanted weight loss due to cachexia [3]. Previous work has found that medical oncologists and oncology teams often neglect to include either screening or information provision related to nutrition in assessments [6,7]. Previous work with cancer survivors has indicated that they are interested in receiving evidence-based nutrition information [9] and that they want to be given this information by their oncologist or oncology team [9]. This is not currently a standard part of clinical or healthcare practice in many locations
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