Individual Abstract within a Delegate Designed Symposium Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Achieving equitable access to cancer care and clinical trials in regional Australia: Victorian teletrial collaborative: solving teletrial roadblocks (#96)

Anne Woollett 1 , Donna Long 2 , Jacqueline Dixon 1 , Kylie Shackleton 3 , Samuel Harris 4 , Kate Burbury 3 , Jessica Freeman 5 , Mark Buzza 5 , Craig Underhill 2
  1. Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. Regional Trials Network , Wodonga, Victoria , Australia
  3. Peter Mac Callum , Melbourne , Victoria , Australia
  4. Bendigo Health , Bendigo , Victoria , Australia
  5. Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Melbourne , Victoria , Australia

Both the Australian and Victorian Government is investing in programs to achieve equitable cancer outcomes for all Victorians regardless of their place of residence. These programs have all identified teletrials as a fundamental component for providing access to clinical trials closer to where people live.

The three programs in Victoria include:

1)            Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Alliance Teletrials program

2)            Regional Victorian Trials Alliance, Linkages, Special populations, Equity (ReViTALISE) program managed by the Regional Trials Network (RTN)

3)            Australian Clinical Trials Network, Alfred TrialHub (TrialHub)

The three programs established a trilateral framework to support an interconnected and networked Teletrial model across Victoria, underpinned by the Australasian Teletrial Model (ATP) to;

  • Expand the number of high-quality cutting-edge clinical trials across the network
  • Partner with the health care sector across Victoria to strengthen the quality of health care for our patients, enhance referral networks, and provide a testbed for new models of care and new pathways to clinical trials
  • Increase sustainability of our research activities by promoting research and education across the multi-disciplinary team with the intent to reduce inequity for rural Victorians
  • Develop and implement uniform resources and educational offerings to support this new model of care
  • Raise awareness of the value of teletrials to the workforce and broader community

 

The first activity included a workshop to identify and group barriers to be addressed. Emergent themes included Goverence and logistics (lead by TrialHub), trial identification (lead by RTN) and education awareness and advocacy (lead by VCCC). Whilst each partner organisation has the lead on discrete themes but underpinned by collective impact. This presentation   will showcase how this collaboration is working to efficiently overcome practical barriers to the implementation of teletrials in Victoria and the implementation of the Medical Research Future Funded ATP.