Developing, Piloting and Evaluating a Patient Support Portal for Men With Prostate Cancer in Victoria: An Action Research Study

Abstract

Introduction

Men with prostate cancer (PCa) and their support providers face challenges in accessing high-quality, impartial information tailored to their specific needs to enhance their overall care and decision-making. We describe the development, piloting and evaluation of the co-designed web portal ‘BroSupPORT’.

Methods

IT teams developed and integrated BroSupPORT into the Victorian Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry (PCOR-Vic) electronic patient-reported outcome follow-up process. A comparator tool was built enabling men to compare their patient-reported outcome results against men of similar age, risk profile and after the same treatment. PCOR-Vic participants were invited to access BroSupPORT after 12 months of follow-up patient-reported outcome measure completion. Factors associated with consent to BroSupPORT were determined using logistic regression. Portal access data were gathered from PCOR-Vic data extracts and Google Analytics. A survey on portal exit and 2 weeks after consent was used to collect feedback.

Results

Over a 4-month pilot, 331/583 (57%) men consented to accessing BroSupPORT. Among those men who accessed the portal, the majority (209/331 =63%) were diagnosed in a private hospital and resided in a major city (214/331=65%). On average, men spent 3:20 min on the portal, with sexual function aspects receiving the most attention. Twenty-three percent of men revisited the portal during the pilot. Most men found the portal easy to use, reassuring and informative, while 9% found the patient-reported comparisons difficult to interpret.

Conclusion

A patient portal—enabling men to compare their patient-reported outcomes with other similar men and providing access to information and resources—may be a scalable solution in addressing the complex supportive care needs of men with PCa on a population basis.