Aims
Mental health challenges are faced by individuals with cancer, yet accessing support remains a significant gap, particularly in outpatient settings. This study examined factors hindering the integration of mental health care into routine practice.
Methods
Qualitative data was collected via focus groups with 26 healthcare professionals (10 medical, 15 nursing, 1 allied health) at a major Victorian metropolitan hospital. Participants had an average of 15 years of oncology experience. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes.
Results
Staff unanimously recognised the critical need for mental health support during treatment. Staff expressed feelings of futility around the lack of oncology-specific services and the inequity of supports across tumour streams. These feelings manifested as avoidance of the topic even when mental health impeded medical care. Staff reported reliance on experiential knowledge rather than formal training and low confidence managing mental health. Integrating oncology-specific mental health support was highly desired by participants but acknowledged as unfeasible. Two popular suggestions for practical, low-budget initiatives were: (1) creation of institution-specific referral pathways that are accessible to all staff, and (2) increased opportunity for peer supervision to share experiential learning amongst staff.
Conclusions
Staff strongly desire increased integration of specialised mental health professionals into oncology. This study found that low-cost initiatives are helpful and desirable as an immediate and feasible alternative. Combatting feelings of futility and low efficacy amongst staff may provide the most impactful changes in the short-term with limited resources. Ensuring any changes are applied across all tumour streams and department members would prevent further frustration amongst staff surrounding perceived resource inequity between patient groups. Departmental support for open conversations around mental health (eg formal peer support) would allow staff to take advantage of the vast experiential learning present within teams and provide opportunities to combat feelings of futility.