Examining the Effectiveness of the Discharge Plan Model on the South Korean Patients with Cancer Completed Cancer Treatment and Are Returning to the Community: A Pilot Study.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a discharge plan model for South Korean patients with cancer who had completed treatment and were returning to the community. Overall, 23 patients with cancer were recruited at the National Cancer Center in Goyang-si. The effectiveness of the discharge plan was examined using four methods: Social Needs Screening Toolkit (2018), early screening for discharge plan, current life situation v.2.0, and a questionnaire regarding problems after discharge from the hospital. Subsequently, the results were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis methods with the Stata 14.0 program. The largest age group of study participants was between 45 and 64 years. No participants responded to urgent needs, whereas nine (39.13%) participants needed support for their social needs. According to the in-depth evaluation of participants, more than 80% of the respondents answered that patients with cancer needed no help in self-management, daily living activities, or mental health. The satisfaction survey results showed that the degree to which the "discharge plan" was helpful for health management at home after discharge was 4.41 of 5, and the degree to which it helped return to daily life was 3.86 of 5.

A Comparative Analysis of the Perception of Cancer Patients and Healthcare Providers (Oncology Physicians, Nurses, Social Workers) in Support of Integrated Community-Linked Cancer Plans.

This study aimed to examine the awareness and status of cancer patients and healthcare providers (physicians, nurses and social workers) regarding community linkage, in order to establish a desirable care plan model in a future research project. The survey was conducted via two methods: face-to-face for cancer patients (n = 308) and oncology physicians (n = 210), and due to COVID-19 circumstances, online for nurses (n = 200) and social workers (n = 313). As a result, more than 95% of the healthcare providers responded that cancer patients required community-linked services and discharge plans, whereas 50.7% and 79.2% of cancer patients noted the importance of community-linked services and discharge plans, respectively. Social workers, among healthcare providers, showed the most positive experience about connecting patients to community services since 69.7% of them responded as "excellent". However, as a group, cancer patients considered the necessity of community-linked service as less important, as only 50.7% responded as agreeing it was necessary. The barriers to community linkage were the lack of communication among the different professions of healthcare providers, and the ambiguity in their roles. The findings of this study will inform future community-linked health research, policies and systems for cancer patients. In particular, an in-depth interview with cancer patients will be required to explore their lack of acknowledgment about the necessity of community-linked services. Therefore, this study is expected to contribute to the improvement and supplementation of cancer policies.