Service User Involvement in Radiotherapy and Oncology education; the Patient Perspective.

Terri Flood, Iseult M. Wilson, John Cathcart

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
44 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

IntroductionThe Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) recently mandated the integration of the service-user voice into all aspects of allied healthcare education in the UK. However, the potential benefits and harms of this integration to service users is largely unknown. This study aimed to determine service user perspectives on relaying their personal experience of the cancer treatment pathway to students in an undergraduate Radiotherapy and Oncology programme. 
MethodsA qualitative study was conducted where seven patients led educational sessions with students and were interviewed (1:1) one week later using an iterative semi-structured format. 
ResultsUnanimously, the primary motivation for participation was the opportunity for patients to tell their unique story to positively influence the future behaviour and understanding of student healthcare professionals. Patients experiencing significant cancer-related psychological trauma reported reacting more emotionally to the experience but also reported particularly positive benefits from their participation, including therapeutic healing. 
ConclusionFindings highlight the array of benefits to service users associated with teaching in allied healthcare education. Post traumatic growth (PTG) may also potentially occur through this type of intervention in certain participants and this warrants further investigation in future studies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-191
Number of pages7
JournalRadiography
Volume24
Issue number3
Early online date3 Feb 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Aug 2018

Keywords

  • service user
  • oncology education
  • cancer-related trauma
  • patients as teachers

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