Background: Variation in access and the provision of nutrition care and information exists for cancer patients and carers. An evidence-based cancer nutrition resource, The CanEAT pathway, was developed in 2019 to address this gap.
Aims: This study aimed to (1) investigate cancer patient, carer and health professional (HP) views and practices, relating to cancer nutrition information and care; (2) co-design interactive cancer nutrition resources (an adjunct to the CanEAT pathway) and (3) conduct clinical utility testing of the resources within multiple health settings.
Methods: Patients/carers completed an online survey. Teams of 4-7 multidisciplinary cancer HPs from seven health services were formed and invited to participate in a pre-and-post clinical utility testing survey and key informant interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Eligible cancer patients, carers and multidisciplinary HPs (target n=20) were invited to four virtual workshops utilising experience-based co-design methods, to identify nutrition information priority areas, design and refine resources. End-user acceptability of resources was measured. New resources were tested within seven health services.
Results: Of 104 consumer survey respondents (n=97 patients, n=7 carers), 61% agreed that it ‘took too much time to find evidence-based nutrition and cancer information’. Twenty participants (n=10 patients/carers, n=10 HPs) attended workshops 1-4 and 46 new resources were developed and rated as highly acceptable. Clinical utility testing demonstrated acceptability of the resources across seven health service settings (acute hospital x4, community health x2, GP practice x1). Pre-and-post clinical utility testing surveys and interview responses identified barriers and enablers in delivering optimal cancer nutrition care.
Conclusions: New interactive cancer nutrition resources were co-designed resulting in high acceptability to patients, carers and HPs. End-user clinical utility testing across multiple health settings demonstrated acceptability in a ‘real-world’ setting and identified practical implementation strategies for health services.