A realist evaluation to understand the implementation of EORTC PROMS in clinical practice: an implementation science project

Implementation of PROMS in clinical practice has shown to be effective in several studies (e.g., improves patient-physician communication, health-related quality of life, survival) However, actual implementation of (EORTC) PROMS in clinical practice remains challenging.

A recent study showed that barriers for PROMS implementation are often stable across contexts but implementation strategies to enable change (e.g. provide training, identify champions) are rarely universally successful and vary according to the specific clinical context.

Therefore we need realist evaluations to understand how context makes a difference to the implementation of PROMS. Moreover, realist evaluations will help to generate a deeper understanding on how, why and under what circumstances specific PROM implementation strategies are effective (or not).

The EORTC QLG has not yet dealt with questions regarding how, why and under what circumstances EORTC PROMS can be implemented (or not) in various clinical practice settings. Using a realist evaluation in this regard will add specific knowledge to increase the uptake of EORTC PROMS in clinical practice. The output of this proposal will provide guidance to enable people to select the most appropriate implementation strategy for their specific context or to adapt implementation strategies to their particular context.

Using questionnaires in clinical practice (e.g. patient fills out questionnaire and healthcare provider acts upon the data) may result is several benefits for the patient (e.g. better self-management, quality of life, survival). However, due to several barriers it is difficult to implement the systematic use of such questionnaires.

This project aims to understand how and why specific strategies can be used to address barriers and achieve a successful implementation of these questionnaires. The results of this project will help healthcare providers and implementers to choose implementation strategies which are fit for their specific context.

Umbrella review

• Protocol written and registered on PROSPERO (ID=CRD42024539970)
• Screening titles and abstracts and full-texts
• Data extraction
• Quality assessments
• First manuscript accepted in Psycho-Oncology

Delphi-study

• Protocol has been written
• Delphi round 1, 2 and 3 are completed.

Last Delphi round to be disseminated in May.

Using questionnaires in clinical practice (e.g. patient fills out questionnaire and healthcare provider acts upon the data) may result is several benefits for the patient (e.g. better self-management, quality of life, survival). However, due to several barriers it is difficult to implement the systematic use of such questionnaires.

This project aims to understand how and why specific strategies can be used to address barriers and achieve a successful implementation of these questionnaires. The results of this project will help healthcare providers and implementers to choose implementation strategies which are fit for their specific context.