title: Most National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center Websites Do Not Provide Survivors with Information About Cancer Rehabilitation Services.
abstract: This study is the first to evaluate the existence and quality of patient-related cancer rehabilitation content on the websites of National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Centers. In 2016, a team of cancer rehabilitation physicians (physiatrists) conducted an analysis of the patient-related rehabilitation content on the websites of all NCI-Designated Cancer Centers that provide clinical care (N = 62 of 69). The main outcome measures included qualitative rating of the ease of locating descriptions of cancer rehabilitation services on each website, followed by quantitative rating of the quality of the cancer rehabilitation descriptions found. More than 90% of NCI-Designated Cancer Centers providing clinical care did not have an easily identifiable patient-focused description of or link to cancer rehabilitation services on their website. Use of a website's search box and predetermined terms yielded an additional 13 descriptions (21%). Therefore, designers of nearly 70% of the websites evaluated overlooked an opportunity to present a description of cancer rehabilitation services. Moreover, only 8% of the websites included accurate and detailed information that referenced four core rehabilitation services (physiatry and physical, occupational and speech therapy). Further research is needed to confirm the presence of cancer rehabilitation services and evaluate access to these types of services at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers providing clinical care.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation & Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, 300 1st Avenue, Charlestown, MA, 02025, USA. julie_silver@hms.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Julie K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Carolinas Rehabilitation, 1100 Blythe Boulevard, Charlotte, NC, 28203, USA.
authors.forename: Vishwa S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 1414, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Jack B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, 102 Irving Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20010, USA.
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wisotzky
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 325 E Eisenhower Pkwy, Ste 100, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, USA.
authors.forename: Sean Robinson
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation & Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, 300 1st Avenue, Charlestown, MA, 02025, USA.
authors.forename: Sasha E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Knowlton
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Karp Family Research Building, 5th Floor, 1 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Silver
mesh_terms: D000073116:Cancer Survivors; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054547:National Cancer Institute (U.S.) / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000073859:Survivorship; D014481:United States
keywords: Cancer; Patient education; Patient-centered care; Physical and rehabilitation medicine; Survivorship