A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians
Objectives: Improvements in cancer detection and treatment create a need for care that prioritizes acute treatment and ongoing needs. There have been calls to include health promotion in cancer care, but little empirical consideration of the work involved in such an expansion of services. In this ar...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2016-08-01
|
| Series: | SAGE Open Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312116665935 |
| _version_ | 1819264915840434176 |
|---|---|
| author | Katherine C Smith Kisha I Coa Ann C Klassen |
| author_facet | Katherine C Smith Kisha I Coa Ann C Klassen |
| author_sort | Katherine C Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: Improvements in cancer detection and treatment create a need for care that prioritizes acute treatment and ongoing needs. There have been calls to include health promotion in cancer care, but little empirical consideration of the work involved in such an expansion of services. In this article, we adopt a constructionist position to explore clinicians’ perspectives on capacity for health promotion, specifically dietary counseling. Methods: Our data result from 33 semi-structured qualitative interviews with members of cancer care teams. All interviewees were affiliated with one of two contrasting medical systems located in Baltimore, MD, USA. Interviews focused on professional roles and responsibilities around health promotion for cancer survivors. We employed both purposive and snowball sampling. We conducted a thematic analysis informed by the sociology of professions literature of discussions of dietary change by provider type. Results: We discuss four emergent themes that relate to the work of providing dietary counseling: (1) prioritization of behavior change in survivorship care, (2) evidence base for dietary messaging, (3) available time and clinical priorities and (4) clinical expertise. Interviewees generally expressed support for the importance of diet for healthy cancer survivorship. However, while there was broad support for dietary change and health promotion, we found little evidence of an emerging consensus on how this work should be accomplished, nor an indication of any occupational group expanding their professional remit to prioritize health promotion tasks. Conclusions: Health promotion is the key to any efficient and effective model of cancer care. Careful attention to the impact of the task on key patient outcomes as well as system capacity for the provision of dietary counseling and its fit with a specific professional remit will be critical for successful integration of health promotion into routine cancer care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:37:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5e89fb46a4454177a9590bb7f7dff588 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-3121 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:37:04Z |
| publishDate | 2016-08-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-5e89fb46a4454177a9590bb7f7dff5882022-12-21T17:32:03ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open Medicine2050-31212016-08-01410.1177/205031211666593510.1177_2050312116665935A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer cliniciansKatherine C Smith0Kisha I Coa1Ann C Klassen2Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USADepartment of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USADepartment of Community Health and Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USAObjectives: Improvements in cancer detection and treatment create a need for care that prioritizes acute treatment and ongoing needs. There have been calls to include health promotion in cancer care, but little empirical consideration of the work involved in such an expansion of services. In this article, we adopt a constructionist position to explore clinicians’ perspectives on capacity for health promotion, specifically dietary counseling. Methods: Our data result from 33 semi-structured qualitative interviews with members of cancer care teams. All interviewees were affiliated with one of two contrasting medical systems located in Baltimore, MD, USA. Interviews focused on professional roles and responsibilities around health promotion for cancer survivors. We employed both purposive and snowball sampling. We conducted a thematic analysis informed by the sociology of professions literature of discussions of dietary change by provider type. Results: We discuss four emergent themes that relate to the work of providing dietary counseling: (1) prioritization of behavior change in survivorship care, (2) evidence base for dietary messaging, (3) available time and clinical priorities and (4) clinical expertise. Interviewees generally expressed support for the importance of diet for healthy cancer survivorship. However, while there was broad support for dietary change and health promotion, we found little evidence of an emerging consensus on how this work should be accomplished, nor an indication of any occupational group expanding their professional remit to prioritize health promotion tasks. Conclusions: Health promotion is the key to any efficient and effective model of cancer care. Careful attention to the impact of the task on key patient outcomes as well as system capacity for the provision of dietary counseling and its fit with a specific professional remit will be critical for successful integration of health promotion into routine cancer care.https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312116665935 |
| spellingShingle | Katherine C Smith Kisha I Coa Ann C Klassen A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians SAGE Open Medicine |
| title | A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| title_full | A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| title_fullStr | A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| title_full_unstemmed | A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| title_short | A qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| title_sort | qualitative study of dietary discussions as an emerging task for cancer clinicians |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312116665935 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katherinecsmith aqualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians AT kishaicoa aqualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians AT anncklassen aqualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians AT katherinecsmith qualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians AT kishaicoa qualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians AT anncklassen qualitativestudyofdietarydiscussionsasanemergingtaskforcancerclinicians |