The study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the implementation of a routine digital psychosocial screening combined with a psycho-oncological Navigation Call for cancer survivors after completion of primary treatment with the goal to improve identification of psychosocial needs and facilitate access to supportive care.
Cancer survivors frequently experience persistent psychosocial distress, including anxiety, fatigue, fear of recurrence, and reduced quality of life after completion of active treatment. Although routine distress screening is widely recommended, screening results alone often fail to translate into the utilization of psychosocial support services due to motivational, informational, and organizational barriers. This single-centre prospective feasibility study evaluates a combined intervention consisting of routine digital patient-reported outcome screening and a structured psycho-oncological Navigation Call conducted shortly after follow-up consultation. The Navigation Call aims to discuss screening results, identify unmet psychosocial needs, address barriers to care, and facilitate referral to appropriate support services. The study primarily assesses the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention while also exploring psychosocial burden, support utilization, and reasons for accepting or declining psychosocial care.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
50
Semi-structured psycho-oncological Navigation Call to discuss screening results, identify psychosocial needs and barriers, and facilitate access to supportive care services.
University Hospital Basel
Basel, Switzerland
RECRUITINGFeasibility of the Navigation Call
Assessment: Proportion of included participants who complete the Navigation Call Scale: Dichotomous outcome (completed yes/no) Interpretation: Higher proportion indicates greater feasibility
Time frame: During the study intervention period, approximately 3 months after 1. follow-up consultation
Acceptance of the Navigation Call:
Instrument: Adapted German version of the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) questionnaire Items: 8 items Response scale: 5-point Likert scale Score range: 1-5 per item (or corresponding mean score across items) Interpretation: Higher scores indicate greater acceptability of the Navigation Call
Time frame: 1 day to 1 week after the Navigation Call
Acceptance of the digital screening in routine care
Instrument: Adapted German version of the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) questionnaire Items: 8 items Response scale: 5-point Likert scale Score range: 1-5 per item (or corresponding mean score across items) Interpretation: Higher scores indicate greater acceptability of the digital screening
Time frame: 1 day to 1 week after routine digital screening
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Distress
Instrument: Distress Thermometer Score range: 0-10 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate greater distress Threshold for clinically relevant distress: ≥5
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Physical functioning
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Physical Functioning scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better functioning Threshold indicating impairment: \<83
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
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Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Role functioning
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Role Functioning scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better functioning Threshold indicating impairment: \<58
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Emotional functioning
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Emotional Functioning scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better functioning Threshold indicating impairment: \<70
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Cognitive functioning
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Cognitive Functioning scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better functioning Threshold indicating impairment: \<75
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Social functioning
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Social Functioning scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better functioning Threshold indicating impairment: \<58
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Global health status / quality of life
Instrument: EORTC QLQ-F17 Global Health Status / QoL scale Score range: 0-100 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better global quality of life Threshold indicating impairment: \<66.1
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Fatigue
symptom-specific screening single items are collected using the standard EORTC 4-point response format: Response options: 1 = Not at all, 2 = A little, 3 = Quite a bit, 4 = Very much Score range: 1-4 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate greater symptom burden Threshold indicating clinically relevant symptoms: responses of 3 ("Quite a bit") or 4 ("Very much")
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Prevalence of psychosocial burden - Sleep problems
symptom-specific screening single items are collected using the standard EORTC 4-point response format: Response options: 1 = Not at all, 2 = A little, 3 = Quite a bit, 4 = Very much Score range: 1-4 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate greater symptom burden Threshold indicating clinically relevant symptoms: responses of 3 ("Quite a bit") or 4 ("Very much")
Time frame: At study inclusion (first follow-up consultation)
Utilization of psycho-oncological support
Outcome measure: New engagement with in-house psycho-oncology services following screening Scale: Dichotomous outcome (yes/no) Interpretation: Higher proportions indicate greater uptake of psycho-oncological support
Time frame: Within 4 months after screening
Engagement in community-based support programs and barriers to support uptake
Outcome measure: Use of community-based support services and reported barriers/facilitators Assessment method: Qualitative data collected during the Navigation Call and documented in structured field notes or call transcripts
Time frame: During the Navigation Call