Research Priorities for the Pan-Canadian Oncology Symptom Triage and Remote Support Practice Guides: A Modified Nominal Group Consensus

Abstract

Introduction The pan-Canadian Oncology Symptom Triage and Remote Support (costars) team is studying how to improve the quality and consistency of cancer symptom management.Methods A 1-day invitational meeting was held 24 October 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario, to review the current evidence from costars projects and to establish research priorities for a future largescale implementation study. The meeting included 36 participants who were clinicians from adult oncology, pediatric oncology, and homecare; policymakers from national, provincial, and regional organizations; researchers; and a patient. Half the day involved summarizing evidence from four costars studies and experiences with implementing the costars symptom practice guides. The second half of the day used a modified nominal group technique to generate research questions within small groups, presentation of research questions to all participants, and two rounds of voting to reach consensus on research priorities.Results Participants proposed 4 research categories:■ User-centred augmentation to enhance usability (for example, designing a mobile costars solution)■ Outcome measurement (for example, determining key competencies for clinicians)■ Regular renewal of costars to keep pace with evolving evidence (for example, updates for novel therapies)■ Integration into clinical practice (for example, meaningful engagement of patients and caregivers in study design)Conclusions Across categories, the top 3 priorities were effect on health services use, competency development, and a mobile costars solution. Future research will address identified priorities, reflecting the needs and perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Stakeholder collaboration will continue to guide our approach to operationalizing this priority research agenda.

Exploring the use of social media and online methods to engage knowledge users in creating research agendas: Lessons from a pediatric cancer research priority-setting partnership

“…Sample graphics are shown in Figure 1a and 1b. Throughout the social media campaign, we monitored (1) social media analytics to identify gaps in interaction with campaign and (2) demographics self-reported by survey participants to identify gaps in communities of individuals completing each of the surveys. The identification of these gaps subsequently informed the content of future social media posts.…”

“…In recent years social media has gained an important role in healthcare, including engaging key healthcare knowledge users in research (1,2). Researchers are increasingly utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to enable participant recruitment into research studies (3,4,5) and to disseminate research findings (6).…”

Using Social Media to Engage Knowledge Users in Health Research Priority Setting: Scoping Review

“…The need to meaningfully engage individuals with lived experience (ie, patients, family members, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and other advocates; henceforth referred to as knowledge users) in the conduct of health research—defined as research that includes clinical and basic medical sciences, such as care-based research, systems research, and preventative research—is being increasingly recognized by the scientific community. In particular, it is recognized that these individuals should be included at the onset of the research process, with the aim of developing research that meets the needs of individuals with lived experiences [ 1 ]. In fact, the lack of involvement of these individuals in such research priority setting has been identified as a key contributor to difficulties in effectively translating research findings into clinical practice and policy [ 2 ].…”

Delivery of cancer care via an outpatient telephone support line: a cross-sectional study of oncology nursing perspectives on quality and challenges

“…and administrative support (clinical care leader and clinical manager). One of the guidelines used by ONs who operate PSLs is the Pan-Canadian Oncology Symptom Triage and Remote Support (COSTaRS) practice guides, which were adapted to The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre in 2016 [ 10 ].…”