Introduction
Chemotherapy infusion suites provide an opportunity for cancer supportive care interventions, but implementation may pose certain challenges including space, staff support and safety.
Aim
This scoping review explored existing literature on implementation-related barriers and facilitators for supportive care interventions delivered during anticancer treatment infusion administration.
Method
A scoping review of seven electronic databases was conducted (inception - July 2024) including studies of non-medical interventions conducted while people were undergoing anticancer treatment infusion. Key studies details and reported implementation factors (barriers/facilitators) were extracted. Implementation factors were coded as structural-, organisational-, patient-, provider-, and innovation-level factors.
Results
After screening 2840 studies, 92 were included. Studies were conducted in the USA (n=26), Europe (n=18), Asia (n=3), Oceania (n=2), Middle East (n=1) and Africa (n=1). Interventions included therapies such as pet therapy (n=1), acupuncture (n=4), exercise (n=4) massage (n=9), virtual reality (n=11) and music (n=28). Most therapies (n=77) aimed to impact chemotherapy-related outcomes, seven aimed to impact general cancer-related outcomes, seven combined chemotherapy and general outcomes, and one was a behaviour intervention (diet and exercise). Two studies had an implementation focus and one of these used an implementation framework. Thirty-eight (41%) studies (14 therapies) reported some implementation factor data. No structural-level factors were reported. Organisational -level factors included staff training requirements and availability of staff to supervise the interventions. Patient-level factors were mainly patient preferences and compliance. Provider-level factors included the perceived therapeutic benefit, competence in delivery, and impediment to providers’ work. Innovation-level factors included participant satisfaction, acceptability, recruitment success and adverse events.
Conclusion
The evidence regarding supportive care interventions during anticancer therapy infusion administration is in the early phases of research translation. This highlights the need for a more targeted approach to implementation of interventions, with consideration of strategies tailored to the infusion suite setting and the specific therapy being administered.