Cancer Rehabilitation Veterans Affairs Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Virtual Education Program

Abstract

Rehabilitation is important in the care of patients with cancer for improving function, pain, and quality of life. However, only a small number of clinicians are formally trained in cancer rehabilitation. Virtual learning environments may play a promising role in cancer rehabilitation education, especially in the coronavirus pandemic era where in-person learning is not readily available. A national, interprofessional cancer rehabilitation education program involving a monthly longitudinal webinar series and a 2-day virtual bootcamp was developed through the US Department of Veterans Affairs Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes to improve Department of Veterans Affairs clinician understanding of cancer rehabilitation and ultimately increase the availability of cancer rehabilitation services in the Veterans Health Administration. From March 2020 to July 2022, 923 individuals participated with an average of 72 participants per session and 204 participants per session in the bootcamp. Participants’ most common disciplines were physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, medicine (physicians), advanced practice providers, speech therapy, and pharmacy. Participants reported improved knowledge of cancer rehabilitation and anticipated that the knowledge would change their practice. Virtual education can be a useful means to educate Department of Veterans Affairs–based healthcare professionals about cancer rehabilitation and improve access to rehabilitation services for veterans with cancer.

Utilizing the RE-AIM framework for a multispecialty Veterans Affairs Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (VA-ECHO) program 2018–2022

“…Once potential new specialties were identified, VA-ECHO offered pilot sessions, and when supported by audience response, implemented new programs as quickly as possible. When necessary, VA-ECHO redistributed workload among RN coordinators to support rapid development and implementation of new programs, often being among the earliest VA-based educational offerings in specific content areas [e.g., Cancer Rehabilitation ( 11 ) and COVID-19]. Despite concerns about potential negative impact on existing programs when adding new programs, VA-ECHO has only observed an increase in attendance and audience diversity across all programs ( Table 1 ).…”