The Tablet-Based, Engagement, Assessment, Support, and Sign-Posting (EASSi) Tool for Facilitating and Structuring Sexual Well-Being Conversations in Routine Prostate Cancer Care: Mixed-Methods Study

Eilis McCaughan, Carrie Flannagan, Kader Parahoo, John Connaghan, Roma Maguire, Mary Steele, Samantha Thompson, Suneil Jain, Michael Kirby, Nuala Brady, Sean O'Connor

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Abstract

Background: Long-term side-effects associated with different prostate cancer treatment approaches are common. Sexual challenges are the most frequently occurring issues and can result in increased psychological morbidity. It is recognized that barriers to communication can make initiating discussions around sexual concerns in routine practice difficult. Health care professionals need to routinely initiate conversations, effectively engage with patients, and assess needs in order to provide essential support. One proposed method that could support health care professionals to do this involves the use of prompts or structured frameworks to guide conversations.

Objective: This study aimed to assess feasibility, acceptability, and satisfaction with the tablet-based Engagement, Assessment, Support, and Sign-posting (EASSi) tool designed to facilitate and structure sexual well-being discussions in routine prostate cancer care.

Methods: Health care professionals (n=8) used the EASSi tool during 89 posttreatment appointments. Quantitative data were recorded based on program usage and surveys completed by health care professionals and patients. Qualitative data exploring perceptions on use of the tool were gathered using semistructured interviews with all health care professionals (n=8) and a sample of patients (n=10).

Results: Surveys were completed by health care professionals immediately following each appointment (n=89, 100%). Postal surveys were returned by 59 patients (66%). Health care professionals and patients reported that the tool helped facilitate discussions (81/89, 91% and 50/59, 85%, respectively) and that information provided was relevant (82/89, 92% and 50/59, 85%, respectively). The mean conversation duration was 6.01 minutes (SD 2.91). Qualitative synthesis identified the tool’s ability to initiate and structure discussions, improve the “depth” of conversations, and normalize sexual concerns.

Conclusions: The EASSi tool was appropriate and acceptable for use in practice and provided a flexible approach to facilitate routine brief conversations and deliver essential sexual well-being support. Further work will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of using the tablet-based tool in prostate cancer care settings.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere20137
Number of pages11
JournalJMIR Cancer
Volume6
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 4 Dec 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Movember Foundation and Prostate Cancer UK for providing funding and support for the TrueNORTH maximizing sexual well-being project, which this study is a part of. Additional funding was provided by the HSC Research & Development Division, Northern Ireland. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, or preparation of the manuscript. The intervention was developed using the LifeGuide software, which was partly funded by the National Institute for Health Research Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.

Publisher Copyright:
©Eilís McCaughan, Carrie Flannagan, Kader Parahoo, John Connaghan, Roma Maguire, Mary Steele, Samantha Thompson, Suneil Jain, Michael Kirby, Nuala Brady, Seán R O'Connor.

Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Communication
  • Prostate cancer
  • Quality of life
  • Sexual well-being

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