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Most National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center Websites Do Not Provide Survivors with Information About Cancer Rehabilitation Services

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Abstract

This study is the first to evaluate the existence and quality of patient-related cancer rehabilitation content on the websites of National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Centers. In 2016, a team of cancer rehabilitation physicians (physiatrists) conducted an analysis of the patient-related rehabilitation content on the websites of all NCI-Designated Cancer Centers that provide clinical care (N = 62 of 69). The main outcome measures included qualitative rating of the ease of locating descriptions of cancer rehabilitation services on each website, followed by quantitative rating of the quality of the cancer rehabilitation descriptions found. More than 90% of NCI-Designated Cancer Centers providing clinical care did not have an easily identifiable patient-focused description of or link to cancer rehabilitation services on their website. Use of a website’s search box and predetermined terms yielded an additional 13 descriptions (21%). Therefore, designers of nearly 70% of the websites evaluated overlooked an opportunity to present a description of cancer rehabilitation services. Moreover, only 8% of the websites included accurate and detailed information that referenced four core rehabilitation services (physiatry and physical, occupational and speech therapy). Further research is needed to confirm the presence of cancer rehabilitation services and evaluate access to these types of services at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers providing clinical care.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Julie A. Poorman, Ph.D., for her help with manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation & Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 300 1st Avenue, Charlestown, MA, 02025, USA

    Julie K. Silver & Sasha E. Knowlton

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Rehabilitation, 1100 Blythe Boulevard, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA

    Vishwa S. Raj

  3. Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 1414, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Jack B. Fu

  4. MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, 102 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20010, USA

    Eric M. Wisotzky

  5. University of Michigan Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 325 E Eisenhower Pkwy, Ste 100, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, USA

    Sean Robinson Smith

  6. Department of Hematology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Karp Family Research Building, 5th Floor, 1 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Alexander J. Silver

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  1. Julie K. Silver
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  2. Vishwa S. Raj
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  3. Jack B. Fu
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  6. Sasha E. Knowlton
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  7. Alexander J. Silver
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Correspondence to Julie K. Silver.

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This research has not been previously published or presented and did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. None of the authors have disclosures to report. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors and was deemed exempt from informed consent requirements and institutional review board approval.

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Silver, J.K., Raj, V.S., Fu, J.B. et al. Most National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center Websites Do Not Provide Survivors with Information About Cancer Rehabilitation Services. J Canc Educ 33, 947–953 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1157-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1157-4

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