What is the best way to support patients undergoing radiation therapy?

This editorial explores ways of providing support to patients undergoing radiation therapy. We highlight the importance of preparing patients and their families for radiation therapy. We also emphasise that patients with children need to be supported and be given advice on communicating with their children. Survivorship and treatment follow-up are also discussed

Living Systems, Complexity & Information Systems Science

The paper examines some of the significant new developments in the epistemological framing of systems theory, and their application within the information and management sciences. Specifically, the article argues that Information Systems (IS) – at its heart a systems-science – requires an ongoing discourse into how the metaphors of ‘living systems’, ‘complex systems’, and ‘complexity’ apply to the theoretical foundations of the IS discipline at large.Pragmatically, the implications of developing a complex and living systems framework to investigate IS phenomena has the capacity to synthesise the very way information systems researchers consider their discipline, and the scientific inquiry of it. The “information system” becomes a decentralised, complex and evolving entity, where notions of chaos theory; system self-organisation; autopoietic and dissipative networks; emergence; entropy; and nonlinear dynamics; provide a rich and novel way to investigate system behaviours, human cognitive behaviours, and the management and business contexts in which those behaviours occur

Research interests identified at the coal-face: initial Delphi analysis of Australian radiation therapists' perspectives

Radiation therapists (RT) need to engage more in research for the benefit of their patients and their own professional development. However radiation therapy in Australia is new to research with an undeveloped research culture, so RTs need direction when wishing to embark upon research projects. This project is the first stage of a Delphi process aimed at defining RT areas of research interest. Questionnaires were sent to all Australian Departments of Radiation Oncology (n=41) asking for a group in each department to identify what problems they experienced while treating patients or working with colleagues and what areas of radiation therapy they felt required further research by radiation therapists. The response rate was 70.7%. Of the representative RTs who collected the data, 82.8% had greater than 10 years experience and 48.1% had postgraduate qualifications. Two of the researchers categorised the responses and derived a list of themes to describe the identified questions. 374 of 410 research questions were codable (91.2%). The categories defined were Staff Issues (58.3%), Technical Issues (28.9%) and Patient Related Issues (12.9%). The RTs were interested in many research areas, but it is of concern that the largest theme identified was Staff Issues, which could indicate some dissatisfaction in the work place. However it is clear that RTs are thinking about their practice and identifying gaps in knowledge in the technical and patient related areas. The second stage of this project was to create research areas that represented the themes identified in this first stage and send them back to the radiation therapy departments for prioritising; this data is currently being analysed

How do radiation oncology health professionals inform breast cancer patients about the medical and technical aspects of their treatment?

Background and Purpose: Radiation therapy patients need information to make treatment decisions, understand treatment and manage side effects. The purpose of this study was to: (1) Identify information about radiation therapy routinely provided to breast cancer patients; (2) Determine which health professionals provide information; (3) Examine whether information is routinely provided at the same time points and (4) Determine whether health professionals and patients place similar importance on specific information.Materials and Methods: Health professionals in radiation therapy departments in Australia and New Zealand completed self-administered questionnaires. Results were analysed and compared to patient responses from a previous study. Results: Forty-one of 52 departments participated in this survey. Information provision was inconsistent between departments in terms of how and when information was given. Although the types of information provided to patients appeared to align with patients' needs, health professionals and patients placed different levels of importance on specific information. Conclusions: A wide range of information is provided to patients. However, the priority given to different information needs and the focus of information provision may not be optimal from the perspectives of patients. Further research needs to be conducted to determine patients information needs and develop specific information resources tailored to meet these needs

The Context and Contextual Constructs of Research

This paper presents the Contextual Constructs Model (CCM) and the theory which underpins it, Contextual Constructs Theory (CCT). Developed as part of a complex project designed to investigate user perceptions of Information Quality (IQ) in the context of Web-based Information Retrieval (IR), the CCM is not a single research method per se. Instead, CCT/CCM is a modelled research framework providing an over-arching approach to scientific investigation, by which a researcher is able to identify multiple possible methods of study and analysis according to the identified research constructs and their contexts. Central to CCT is that all research involves the fusion of two key component parts; that of (1) context; and (2) cognitively-driven constructs; and that the co-dependent nature of the relationship between these components inform the research process, development and eventual outcomes. The resulting CCM framework is one which scaffolds research as a contextual process of phases, identifying the conceptual; philosophical, implementation, and evaluation tasks associated with a complex research investigation. The underlying epistemology of such a contextual approach to research is said to be a blend of a critical-real world view within a systems-science approach to investigation

Do radiation therapists feel able to routinely screen for symptoms and distress in people with cancer: barriers impacting practice

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate radiation therapists’ (RTs) perceptions regarding the perceived barriers, knowledge, attitudes, confidence and role in administering an electronic screening tool to routinely screen for cancer patients’ symptoms and distress. Methods: RTs at two radiation therapy departments completed a cross-sectional paper/pen survey to assess their demographic and workplace characteristics, perceptions of barriers, knowledge, attitudes, confidence and opinion of their role in symptom and distress screening. Responses were evaluated using simple frequencies and free-text responses using thematic analysis. Results: Of 39 RTs approached, 37 (95%) participated. The majority had not previously attended any emotional cues (77%) or psychosocial training (86%); 68% reported confidence discussing psychosocial concerns and recognising signs of anxiety and depression in patients, and 65% felt discussing patients’ psychosocial concerns was part of their role. Administering the tool to patients was agreed to be the role of RTs by 38% of participants. Lack of education about psychosocial issues was the highest-ranked barrier to delivering the patient screening tool, with 74% of RTs responding ‘it has made it difficult’. Conclusion: Whilst RTs are willing to play a role in patients’ psychosocial support, they do not feel able to fulfil this role adequately because they lacked knowledge and confidence to administer symptom and distress screening. This research has highlighted the need for RT education on psychosocial concerns and recognising and responding to emotional cues. Understanding the impact education may have on the knowledge, attitude, confidence and role of RTs performing routine symptom and distress screening is required