Analysis of a Pilot Study Delivering Cancer Survivorship Education to Community Healthcare Professionals Utilizing the Project ECHO model

PurposeThis pilot study evaluated a 12-week Cancer Survivorship curriculum delivered utilizing the Project Echo(R) model on provider self-efficacy (SE), knowledge (KN), and professional improvement (PI). MethodsProviders affiliated with the Mercy Health System were enrolled in two cohorts. Six one-hour sessions were developed from a needs assessment and delivered over 12 weeks. Participants completed pre and post session surveys evaluating 3 domains: SE, KN and PI. The average score for survey items overall and within each domain was compared pre- and postsurvey results. ResultsTwenty-six participants completed the baseline survey and 22 completed the poststudy survey. For cohort 1, the overall score (0.94 (0.45,1.42) (P=0.0023), SE (1.1 (0.5,1.7) p = 0.003), and KN domain (1.03 (0.45,1.62) p= 0.0036) scores significantly increased. For cohort 2, the overall score (0.617 (0.042,1.193) p=0.0378), the SE (0.728(0.048,1.407), p = 0.0379), and KN domains (0.665 (0.041,1.289), p= 0.0387) increased significantly. The PI did not change for either cohort. ConclusionsThis Cancer Survivorship ECHO pilot resulted in a statistically significant increase in provider self-efficacy and knowledge. All 22 participants rated the Cancer Survivorship ECHO pilot experience as a positive (greater than neutral) on their training. Implications for Cancer SurvivorsThe Cancer Survivorship ECHO model may serve as a scalable strategy for building cancer survivorship care capacity in community-based oncology practices through equipping multidisciplinary teams to meet the needs of cancer survivors within their community. Further research is needed to assess implementation of this model into novel settings and evaluate its impact on patient outcomes.