- Title
- 'Exploring gaps in patient-centred care among cancer outpatients in active treatment: a rural focus'
- Creator
- Mathe, Thembelihle
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Masters Research - Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
- Description
- Patients that are diagnosed with cancer experience several physical, emotional and practical challenges as they navigate a complex and unfamiliar cancer care system. For the third of Australians that reside in rural and remote areas, those that are diagnosed with cancer may face additional challenges, such as travelling or relocating for treatment, disruptions to social support networks, financial burdens and limited access to clinical and supportive care services. A patient-centred approach to care delivery is one of the key criteria for enabling a high-quality healthcare experience during the challenging time of active cancer treatment. Although cancer treatment is currently a specialist domain, there has been an increasing realisation that multidisciplinary care that involves general practitioners (GPs) is important, particularly in rural and remote areas of Australia in which the shortage of medical oncologists is predicted to continue. This research master’s thesis contains an introduction, two data-based research chapters and a discussion. The introduction chapter provides a background and reviews patient-centred cancer care and the role of GPs in facilitating this care during active treatment. The first data-based chapter investigates and compares the receipt of patient-centred care among rural and urban outpatients that were undergoing treatment for cancer. The second data-based chapter documents a medical record audit of correspondence letters that were sent from a tertiary rural oncology clinic to GPs about outpatients who receive active cancer treatment, in accordance with best practice guidelines and recommendations. The discussion draws together the principal findings of the thesis, considers future research and implications and reviews the literature that has addressed communication between medical oncology clinics and GPs regarding cancer patients that undergo active treatment.
- Subject
- patient-centred care; cancer care; quality of care; cancer outpatients; rural
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1514236
- Identifier
- uon:56830
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 Thembelihle Mathe
- Language
- eng
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