Facilitating survivorship program development for health care providers and administrators

Purpose This manuscript will describe institutional changes observed through goal analysis that occurred following a multidisciplinary education project, aimed at preparing health care professionals to meet the needs of the growing numbers of cancer survivors. Method Postcourse evaluations consisted of quantitative questionnaires and follow-up on three goals created by each participating team, during the 3-day educational program. Evaluations were performed 6, 12, and 18 months postcourse for percent of goal achievement. Goals were a priori coded based on the Institute of Medicine’s survivorship care components along with two additional codes related to program development and education. Results Two hundred and four teams participated over the four yearly courses. A total of 51.6 % of goals were related to program development, 21 % to survivorship care interventions, 20.9 % on educational goals, and only 4.7 % related to coordination of care, 1.4 % on surveillance, and 0.4 % related to prevention-focused goals. Quantitative measures postcourse showed significant changes in comfort and effectiveness in survivorship care in the participating institutions. Conclusion During the period 2006–2009, health care institutions focused on developing survivorship care programs and educating staff, in an effort to prepare colleagues to provide and coordinate survivorship care, in cancer settings across the country. Implications for cancer survivors Goal-directed education provided insight into survivorship activities occurring across the nation. Researchers were able to identify survivorship care programs and activities, as well as the barriers to developing these programs. This presented opportunities to discuss possible interventions to improve follow-up care and survivors’ quality of life.