Transcript Proposal - Public Administration

Evaluation of Psychosocial Support Services for Adolescent and Young Adult Patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Allison Polakiewicz, MPA Project Proposal
Project Advisor: Dr. Warden
Introduction and Purpose Statement
Literature Review Continued
Hypotheses
The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) population of cancer
patients is one that is often mixed in with the population of
pediatric and adult patients when it comes to their treatment
plans. It is important for the caregivers of AYAs to understand
that they have specific needs, which differ from those of
pediatric and adult patients. As AYAs are classified as a group
between the ages of 15-39, they face several psychosocial
issues and challenges that become even more difficult to deal
with when they have a diagnosis like cancer. These
challenges include, but are not limited to, education and
career attainment, dating, family and friend relationships,
developing a healthy body image, increased health risks, selfesteem, stress, depression, financial burdens, and fertility
concerns.
It is important that the healthcare professionals are able to
identify such emotional struggles and provide recommendations
of support services to the patient. It is strongly advised by the
NCCN Guidelines that AYA cancer patients be referred to cancer
centers that have expertise and experience in treating this age
group. (National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2015)
Hypothesis 1: The Psychosocial Support Services for
Adolescent and Young Adults at Roswell Park Cancer
Institute are successfully meeting their goals and objectives.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of
the Psychosocial Support Services for Adolescent and Young
Adult (AYA) Patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI).
This program evaluation will use a mixed methods approach
as an explanatory sequential design. To evaluate program
effectiveness, quantitative data will be collected through
surveying the patients who are currently utilizing the Support
Group. To further explain the data from the quantitative
results, a qualitative phase will be conducted as a follow up
through focus groups and interviews. Results will be used to
determine factors such as whether or not the program is
meeting its goals and objectives, what the program is doing
successfully in efforts to promote and offer their services,
areas and suggestions for improvement in efforts to increase
the number of clients, and overall effectiveness of the
services on the patients who utilize them.
Literature Review
The AYA population of cancer patients is a unique group with
specific needs that are different from pediatric and adult
patients. As AYAs are classified as a group between the ages
of 15-39, they face several psychosocial issues and
challenges that become even more difficult to deal with when
they have a diagnosis like cancer. Tasks such as education
and career attainment, relationships with family and friends,
body image, and infertility concerns are just a few of the many
areas of concern for AYA cancer patients.
Unfortunately, AYA patients are often treated as either
pediatrics or adults (Hanson, 2014). The quality of care that
AYA patients are receiving is important to understand.
As a preventative approach, regular psychosocial screenings
and care planning helps the healthcare providers to identify the
patients who are at risk of negative psychosocial outcomes,
monitor their coping, and identify areas of need which require
additional care and support (Palmer, Patterson et al., 2014). A
number of quality of life (QoL) and unmet needs tools for adult
cancer patients and survivors are available, however, very few
measures specific to AYAs have been identified. Self-report
measures are often preferred for assessing psychosocial health,
but there is a need for these measures need to accurately reflect
the unique situation of AYAs.
Sample Selection
The technique used in order to select participants for this
research was a convenience sample. The sampling frame
included all Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) patients at
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) who utilized the
Psychosocial Support Services monthly meetings, offered
through the Psychosocial Oncology Department. The
technique of a convenience sample was selected so that the
patients who are in need of psychosocial support could be as
fairly represented as possible.
As the size of this sample is smaller than that of the actual
population of AYA patients at RPCI, it is expected that not all
of the results obtained can be applied towards all AYAs. The
sample was selected as a means to benefit RPCI in
evaluating the effectiveness of their Psychosocial Support
Services for AYAs. As RPCI is a National Cancer Institutedesignated Comprehensive Cancer Center, results and
recommendations made through this research can potentially
be applied to other cancer centers which treat AYAs.
Null Hypothesis: The Psychosocial Support Services for
Adolescent and Young Adults at Roswell Park Cancer
Institute are not successfully meeting their goals and
objectives.
Data Collection and Instrument
This program evaluation will be a nonexperimental case
study n=1 method with a mixed methods approach as an
explanatory sequential design. In the quantitative phase of
this evaluation, the same survey will administered at the
Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Support Group monthly
meetings over the course of 3 months. The purpose of
doing so is to determine whether or not the patients who
are utilizing the services feel that the program is meeting
its goals and objectives as well as their personal
expectations, and the overall effectiveness of the program.
To follow, the qualitative phase of this evaluation will
consist of a focus group with the survey participants to
interpret the results of the surveys, and one-on-one
interviews with randomly selected participants in order to
avoid selection bias.
References
Hanson, R. (, 2014). Healthy Kids: Bridging the gap for
young adult cancer patients. St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (, 2015).
"NCCN Announces New Guidelines for Adolescent and
Young Adult (AYA) Oncology." from
http://www.nccn.org/about/news/newsinfo.aspx?NewsI
D=310.
Palmer, S. and D. Thomas (, 2008). A practice
framework for working with 15–25 year-old
cancer patients treated within the adult health sector