Promoting self-management for people with head and neck lymphoedema
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Plan, develop and test a tailored self-management lymphoedema intervention for patients who have completed treatment for head and neck cancer to improve health-related quality of life.
IRAS ID
328114
Contact name
Cherith Semple
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
People with head and neck cancer (HNC) can have serious and chronic side effects. Head and neck lymphoedema (HNL) is a common chronic side effect of HNC treatment and is a significant issue for patients to manage. There remains a lack of consensus on the most effective method of managing this chronic condition. By developing an intervention that can be implemented into everyday life is imperative to bridge the gap in literature and clinical care for this HNC population. This study aims to plan, develop and test a tailored self-management intervention for HNL in patients who have received treatment for HNC. The design of this study uses the Person-based approach framework of Yardley et al. (2015) to guide the intervention design. The study will include three phases. Phase 1 will incorporate face-to-face or remote interviews with patients and carers/family members about their experiences of HNL self-management after completion of HNC. Focus groups online will be conducted for health care professionals. The data collected from phase 1 in combination with review of literature will help to enable the development of a HNL self-management intervention.
Phase 2 will include individual think aloud qualitative interviews to gain insight regarding the thoughts and opinions of target users on the intervention prototype. This will be an iterative approach to ensure the intervention is refined by the feedback gained from target user experiences through the think aloud interviews.
Phase 3 will incorporate the use of a sequential mixed-methods with both quantitative and qualitative research to ascertain feasibility and effectiveness of the refined intervention.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
23/NI/0096
Date of REC Opinion
22 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion