Ferraris Giulia, Coppini Veronica, Monzani Dario, Grasso Roberto, Kirac Iva, Horgan Denis, Pietrobon Ricardo, Galvão Victor, Pravettoni Gabriella
Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement (SPPEFF), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2024 Feb 26;15:1252832. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1252832. eCollection 2024.
Health disparities represent a crucial factor in cancer survival rates, awareness, quality of life, and mental health of people receiving a cancer diagnosis and their families. Income, education, geographic location, and ethnicity are some of the most important underlying reasons for health disparities in cancer across Europe. Costs of healthcare, access to information, psycho-oncological support options, integration of cancer research and innovative care, and multidisciplinary cancer teams are the main target areas when it comes to addressing disparities in the cancer context. As part of the Beacon Project (BEACON), we developed a protocol for a qualitative study to explore and identify any relevant reasons for cancer inequalities and disparities in Europe.
Our four stakeholders namely, cancer patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers will be recruited online, facilitated by collaborative efforts with cancer organizations from various European countries, including but not limited to Italy, Croatia, Estonia, and Slovenia. Qualitative online focus group discussions for each stakeholder will be conducted and transcribed. Subsequently, thematic analysis will be used to identify reasons and aspects that may contribute to the existing disparities in cancer outcomes at various levels of engagement and from different stakeholders' perspectives. Results from focus groups will inform a subsequent Delphi study and a SWOT analysis methodology.
Although advances in medical research, cancer screening and treatment options are constantly progressing, disparities in access to and awareness of healthcare in cancer patients are even more noticeable. Thus, mapping the capacity and capability of cancer centres in the European Union, creating decision support tools that will assist the four stakeholders' information needs and improving the quality of European cancer centres will be the main objectives of the BEACON project. The current protocol will outline the methodological and practical procedures to conduct online focus group discussions with different stakeholders.
健康差异是影响癌症生存率、认知度、生活质量以及癌症确诊患者及其家属心理健康的关键因素。收入、教育程度、地理位置和种族是欧洲癌症健康差异的一些最重要的潜在原因。医疗保健成本、信息获取、心理肿瘤学支持选项、癌症研究与创新护理的整合以及多学科癌症团队是解决癌症领域差异的主要目标领域。作为灯塔项目（BEACON）的一部分，我们制定了一项定性研究方案，以探索和确定欧洲癌症不平等和差异的任何相关原因。
我们的四个利益相关者，即癌症患者、医疗保健提供者、研究人员和政策制定者，将通过与来自包括但不限于意大利、克罗地亚、爱沙尼亚和斯洛文尼亚等不同欧洲国家的癌症组织合作，在网上招募。将针对每个利益相关者进行定性在线焦点小组讨论并进行转录。随后，将使用主题分析来确定在不同参与层面和从不同利益相关者角度可能导致癌症结果现有差异的原因和方面。焦点小组的结果将为后续的德尔菲研究和SWOT分析方法提供信息。
尽管医学研究、癌症筛查和治疗选择不断取得进展，但癌症患者在医疗保健获取和认知方面的差异更加明显。因此，绘制欧盟癌症中心的能力和实力、创建有助于满足四个利益相关者信息需求的决策支持工具以及提高欧洲癌症中心的质量将是灯塔项目的主要目标。当前方案将概述与不同利益相关者进行在线焦点小组讨论的方法和实际程序。
