Increasing access to care for young adults with cancer: Results of a quality-improvement project using a novel telemedicine approach to supportive group psychotherapy
Abstract
Objective: Young adults with cancer experience high levels of psychological distress. Group interventions for cancer patients have been effective in reducing levels of psychological distress but suffer from high levels of attrition and serve a limited geographic area. In a quality-improvement project, we converted an existing in-person support group to a telemedicine format in the hopes of improving attendance and reducing geographic disparities in access to care. Method: Eight young adults (18–40 years) with cancer were recruited from across Colorado. Participants received a tablet equipped with Wi-Fi and downloaded an HIPAA-compliant video-conferencing application. Participants attended six weekly supportive psychotherapy sessions. Results: Participants found the group to be beneficial: the technology worked, they enjoyed the group format, and they would recommend it to others. The novel treatment interface allowed for low attrition rates due to the flexibility of a patient's location during the intervention. It allowed for provision of services to a geographically diverse population of medically ill young adults, as participants lived an average of 148 miles from the cancer center (range = 25–406 miles). Significance of results: Internet-based mental health care is an area of growing interest for providers, but few studies have evaluated its efficacy in patients with cancer, and even fewer in young adults with cancer. Incorporating technological advances into clinical practice will increase access to care, reduce geographic health disparities, and provide more consistent services.
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In addition, 11 studies did not specify the analysis method used to analyze the data.
“In addition, 11 studies did not specify the analysis method used to analyze the data [33,41-50].”
From Barriers to and facilitators of user engagement with digital mental health interventions: Systematic review (2021) · cites this paper as [47]
Flexibility of being able to access resources at any location is a facilitating factor made possible by the technology used.
“Facilitating factors made possible by the technology used were the flexibility of being able to access resources at any location [47,127]”
From Barriers to and facilitators of user engagement with digital mental health interventions: Systematic review (2021) · cites this paper as [47]
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“The convenience aspect of the online consultation was related to eliminating travel and waiting times, saving costs, and completing the consultation from the comfort of their home at any time [14,15,17,31,40,42, 43,48,50,55,59].”
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- Authors
- Melton, L., Brewer, B., Kolva, E., Joshi, T., & Bunch, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
- University of Colorado Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Melton, Laura
- Venue
- Palliative and Supportive Care
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2016-07-26
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 176-180
- ISSN
- 1478-9515 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-9523
- OpenAlex
- W2496252619
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 4.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Palliative & Supportive Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- young adult cancer, telemedicine, health care access, geographic disparities, psychological distress, videoconferencing, tablet-based intervention, quality improvement
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Colorado, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Psychotherapy, Group, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self-Help Groups, Program Evaluation, Telemedicine, Quality Improvement
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