Cancer care coordination: building a platform for the development of care coordinator roles and ongoing evaluation
Louise Freijser A E , Lucio Naccarella B , Rosemary McKenzie C and Meinir Krishnasamy DA Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Level 4, 207 Bouverie Street, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.
B Australian Health Workforce Institute, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Level 3, 766 Elizabeth Street, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.
C Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Level 4, 207 Bouverie Street, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.
D Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Level 6, 372 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic. 3002, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: louise.freijser@unimelb.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 21(2) 157-163 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY13037
Submitted: 22 March 2013 Accepted: 2 October 2013 Published: 12 November 2013
Abstract
Continuity of care is integral to the quality and safety of care provided to people with cancer and their carers. Further evidence is required to examine the contribution Nurse Cancer Care Coordinator (NCCC) roles make in improving the continuity. The aim of the present study was to clarify the assumptions underpinning the NCCC roles and provide a basis for ongoing evaluation. The project comprised a literature review and a qualitative study to develop program logic. The participants who were purposively sampled included policy makers, practitioners, patient advocates, and researchers. Both the literature and participant reports found that NCCC roles are diverse and responsive to contextual influences to coordinate care at the individual (patient), organisational, and systems levels. The application of the program logic for the development of NCCC roles was explored. The conceptualisation of NCCC roles was also examined in relation to Boundary Spanning and Relational Coordination theory. Further research is required to examine how NCCCs contribute to improving equity, safety, quality and coordination of care. The project has implications for research, policy and practice, and makes explicit existing assumptions to provide a platform for further development and evaluation of these roles.
Additional keywords: boundary spanning, continuity of care, program logic, relational coordination.
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