Enhancing healthcare professional‐led sexual support in cancer care: Acceptability and usability of an eLearning resource and its impact on attitudes towards providing sexual support

Abstract

Objective Barriers to healthcare professional (HP) (HP)‐led sexual support in cancer care include lack of knowledge, skills and evidence‐based educational interventions, to equip HPs to address sexual challenges faced by patients and partners. Consequently, sexual support is often avoided. This study examined HPs' acceptability and usability of the Maximising Sexual Wellbeing: Cancer Care (MSW|CC) eLearning resource for HPs and evaluated its impact on HPs' sexual attitudes and beliefs to providing sexual support in cancer care. Methods HPs (n = 87) completed pre and post‐test surveys using the modified 12‐item Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (SABS). Post‐test, participants rated acceptability and usability of the MSW|CC, with optional free‐text comments. A repeated measures t‐test assessed changes in HPs' scores on the SABS. Descriptive statistics and reporting of free text comments were used to explore HPs' perspectives of the MSW|CC. Results SABS scores increased significantly from Time 1 (M = 35.1, SD = 4.8) to Time 2 (M = 40.1, SD = 4.3), t (86) = −10.2, p < 0.001 (two‐tailed) with a medium effect size (d = 0.55); indicating a decrease in HPs' attitudinal barriers to providing sexual support. The MSW|CC was deemed acceptable, user‐friendly and easy to navigate. Healthcare professionals would recommend the use of this eLearning resource to others (3.78/4, SD = 0.5), considered it a good informational resource (3.78/4, SD = 0.5) and straightforward to use (3.8/4, SD 0.42). Discussion/Conclusion The MSW|CC reduced HPs' attitudinal barriers towards the provision of HP‐led sexual support in cancer care, whilst being acceptable and useable. The MSW|CC could support implementation of global clinical guidelines advocating for HP‐led sexual support across the treatment trajectory.

Caring for People with Severe Brain Injuries: Improving Health Care Professional Communication and Practice Through Online Learning

“…However, online learning does not come without its challenges: some learners can feel isolated 23 ; there can be issues about access to necessary hardware and software 15,24 ; too many courses are poor-quality and there has been a lack of acknowledgment of, or investment in, the true cost of developing good online materials. 25…”

“…15 Additional advantages include: more flexibility and time-effective access to learning opportunities 17 and the ability to deliver standardized education for teams spread across multiple clinical sites [18][19][20] and different areas of the country. 21,22 However, online learning does not come without its challenges: some learners can feel isolated 23 ; there can be issues about access to necessary hardware and software 15,24 ; too many courses are poor-quality and there has been a lack of acknowledgment of, or investment in, the true cost of developing good online materials. 25 Despite the challenges, overall, online learning for HCPs, particularly those in multidisciplinary teams, is now widely recognized as important.…”

Maximising sexual wellbeing in cancer care: findings from a qualitative process evaluation exploring healthcare professionals’ views on acceptability and usability of an eLearning resource

“…Quantitative evaluation of the MSW|CC identi ed a higher-than-expected attrition rate for completion of the post-treatment survey [15]. Poor intervention retention rates could undermine the effectiveness of an intervention [44] or lead to wrong conclusions about the acceptability of MSW|CC, potentially indicating that users regarded the resource as lacking quality [45].…”

“…The effectiveness [15] and now demonstrable usability and acceptability of MSC | CC can be attributable to systematic and rigorous planning and development of this complex intervention [36], guided by the person-based approach [25], integrating theory and evidence and involving a diverse group of end-users. The value of an intervention development framework embedding co-production approaches is paramount [14].…”

“…Full details of the planning and development of MSW /CC has been published [14]. Recent quantitative evaluation of MSW|CC identi ed its potential to reduce HP attitudinal barriers to the provision of sexual support in cancer care [15]. Qualitative process evaluation has an important role to enable exploration on the mechanisms behind intervention success and to identify barriers to future implementation [16][17][18].…”