The Role of Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across the Interdisciplinary Cancer Team: Implications for Practice.
Catherine Paterson, Rachel Bacon, Rebecca Dwyer and 10 others
PMID 33218886WHAT IT FOUND
Cancer teams moved routine reviews, chemotherapy assessments, exercise, and nursing follow-up to telehealth to reduce hospital contact.
Telephone and web lifestyle interventions often improved behaviour at end of treatment, but maintenance, remote assessment, and digital literacy remained limited.
Key findings
01Routine oncology reviews and pre-chemotherapy assessments moved to telehealth from March 2020, and outpatient visits were reduced.
02Most trials reported improvements at end of intervention, but only 8 of 27 studies evaluated maintenance 3 to 12 months later, and 40% supported maintenance.
03Telehealth exercise has shown feasibility and effectiveness for physical and psychosocial outcomes, but live video conferencing is underexplored and remote monitoring of temperature, blood pressure, and pulse is difficult.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not an original trial, so it does not test telehealth directly. Most lifestyle evidence came from women with breast cancer and patients who had completed treatment, so it may not apply to other cancers or active treatment. Samples in broad-reach trials were not compared with wider populations, and participants may have been healthier, wealthier, and more urban than many cancer patients. Only 8 of 27 studies checked maintenance 3 to 12 months after intervention. Telehealth exercise evidence mostly used mobile apps, websites, telephone, or SMS, with limited live video. Nurses and other clinicians could not perform physical assessments or monitor temperature, blood pressure, and pulse remotely. Poor eHealth literacy, low-quality cameras, slow data, and lack of devices could exclude patients or make care unsafe. The paper does not report funding or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that telehealth is safe and effective for every cancer patient. It is a narrative review without original trial methods, and it notes limits such as inability to perform physical assessment, poor eHealth literacy, and lack of live-video exercise evidence.