Pugh Gemma, Hough Rachael, Gravestock Helen, Williams Kate, Fisher Abigail
Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
University College Hospital's NHS Foundation Trust, 235 Euston Rd, London, NW1 2BU, UK.
Support Care Cancer. 2017 Dec;25(12):3823-3832. doi: 10.1007/s00520-017-3814-5. Epub 2017 Jul 19.
Health professionals are an important source of information for teenage and young adult (TYA) cancer patients. However, little is known about health professionals' provision of lifestyle advice to young people with cancer who are in their care.
An online survey was distributed to health professionals within the UK who identified themselves as working with TYA cancer patients. Health professional awareness of lifestyle guidance, provision of lifestyle advice to young people and views on lifestyle information format and delivery were explored.
Ninety-five health professionals (44% nurses; 28% allied health professionals; 17% physicians) completed the survey. The majority (72%) of respondents were aware of some lifestyle guidance for cancer patients. However, less than half of TYA health professionals (46%) were able to successfully recall the source of the guidelines and less than a third reported proving specific advice to the majority of their patients on weight management, smoking, alcohol consumption and sun safety. Many health professionals (38%) felt that they were not the right person to provide advice and cited lack of resources as a key barrier to advice provision. The majority (95%) reported being interested in a resource containing relevant lifestyle information that could be given to young people with cancer.
TYA health professionals' awareness of lifestyle guidance and provision of advice regarding health behaviour is sub-optimal. Clear and comprehensive guidance written specifically for TYA health professionals could overcome the reported barriers and improve professionals' confidence in addressing and providing advice on lifestyle to young people with cancer.
医疗保健专业人员是青少年及青年癌症患者的重要信息来源。然而，对于医疗保健专业人员向其护理的年轻癌症患者提供生活方式建议的情况，我们知之甚少。
向英国境内自认为从事青少年及青年癌症患者护理工作的医疗保健专业人员发放了一份在线调查问卷。探讨了医疗保健专业人员对生活方式指导的认知、向年轻人提供生活方式建议的情况以及对生活方式信息形式和传递方式的看法。
95名医疗保健专业人员（44%为护士；28%为专职医疗保健专业人员；17%为医生）完成了调查。大多数（72%）受访者知晓一些针对癌症患者的生活方式指导。然而，不到一半的青少年及青年医疗保健专业人员（46%）能够成功回忆起这些指南的来源，不到三分之一表示向大多数患者提供了关于体重管理、吸烟、饮酒和防晒方面的具体建议。许多医疗保健专业人员（38%）认为自己并非提供建议的合适人选，并指出缺乏资源是提供建议的关键障碍。大多数（95%）表示有兴趣获得一份包含相关生活方式信息的资料，以便提供给年轻癌症患者。
青少年及青年医疗保健专业人员对生活方式指导的认知以及在健康行为方面提供建议的情况并不理想。专门为青少年及青年医疗保健专业人员编写的清晰、全面的指导可以克服所报告的障碍，并提高专业人员在为年轻癌症患者解决生活方式问题并提供建议方面的信心。
