Pulmonary rehabilitation and eHealth practices for patients undergoing surgical treatment for lung cancer : a survey of multidisciplinary team sites in Australia

Objective: 1) To determine the pre- and post-operative rehabilitation services available for patients with lung cancer undergoing surgery. 2) To determine the availability and use of eHealth technologies within this population. Design, setting and participants: A purpose-designed survey was sent to sites around Australia with a lung cancer multidisciplinary team (MDT) to manage lung cancer surgical patients. There were 49 eligible MDTs. Results: The response rate was 51%. Most respondents (79%) reported that the pulmonary rehabilitation needs of lung cancer surgical patients are currently not being met. Around half (52%) of sites offer referral to pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Around half (52%) of sites use eHealth technologies for practitioner-to-practitioner communication, with 22% using it for direct patient interactions. Conclusion: The findings highlight a need to integrate pulmonary rehabilitation into service delivery pathways. Cancer nurses could have a significant role in optimising such pathways. The use of eHealth technologies in this setting is not widespread.