Prepared for survivorship? Multidisciplinary healthcare professionals' experiences with adolescents’ transition off cancer treatment: A focus group study

Purpose Research indicates that re-entering everyday life after completed cancer treatment can be challenging for adolescents, and knowledge about how healthcare professionals prepare them is scarce. This study explored (a) healthcare professionals’ experiences with adolescents with cancer transitioning off active cancer treatment; and (b) what healthcare professionals’ do to prepare adolescents and their families for this transition; and c) their ideas to improve current practice. Methods We conducted 8 focus-group interviews with 56 multidisciplinary healthcare professionals working in paediatric oncology settings across Norway. The sample consisted of nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, a nutritionist, a dentist, a teacher and a music therapist. Inductive thematic analyses was used. Results We identified three main themes: (a) the multifaceted nature of the end of the treatment phase; (b) navigating challenges in providing early survivorship care; and (c) healthcare professionals' views and wishes regarding their role in transition care. The healthcare professionals conveyed uncertainty regarding how and when to talk about survivorship during treatment. Post-treatment, healthcare professionals' challenges included time restrictions, meeting the families’ individual information needs and providing tailored psychosocial care. Suggestions for improvements included checklists, defined roles and dedicated transition consultations. Conclusions Healthcare professionals were aware of the challenges families face during transition, and felt many were not addressed adequately. Although they had similar concrete suggestions for improvements, system barriers and lack of time and focus on survivorship were seen to hamper implementation. Implementing a standardized transition programme with increased nurse involvement could potentially improve the transition phase for everyone involved.