Sustainability of Complex Interventions: Recommendations From a Pragmatic Clinical Trial to Manage Cancer Symptoms.
Linda L Chlan, Jennifer L Ridgeway, Kathryn J Ruddy and 5 others
PMID 41289513WHAT IT FOUND
After funding ended, an oncology symptom programme continued with clinic-visit patient-reported symptom checks and RN symptom care managers for severe symptoms, social work and palliative referrals.
This reports sustainment steps, not patient outcomes.
Key findings
01After the grant period, the practice continued patient-reported symptom monitoring but linked surveys to clinic visits, stopped routine surveillance between visits, and limited ongoing surveillance to patients receiving care predominantly at Mayo Clinic.
02The department funded 1.3 FTE of RN symptom care manager effort and 0.1 FTE of social work effort to support continued symptom care.
03RN symptom care managers continued to make referrals to social work and palliative care as indicated and to support patients who wanted help with self-management of severe symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This report does not include the parent trial's effectiveness results, so it cannot say whether the symptom intervention worked. It describes one team's experience at Mayo Clinic and one Mayo Health System site, so it may not apply to other practices. The adaptations were made to fit local costs and workflows, not tested against the original research version. It reports sustainment actions, not patient outcomes or safety.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The parent trial was funded by the National Cancer Institute's IMPACT initiative through the Cancer Moonshot research initiative.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that the adapted symptom management programme improved cancer symptoms. The parent trial's effectiveness results were under review, and this report only describes sustainment steps.