The Engage program for childhood cancer survivors: Results from a multidisciplinary, distance-delivered intervention.

1670 Background: As the growing number of childhood cancer survivors exceeds follow-up care capacity, scalable models to improve access and support self-management are needed. We evaluated the effectiveness of the ‘Engage’ survivorship program (primary outcomes: self-efficacy and health-related quality of life; HRQoL). Methods: Engage is a multidisciplinary program comprising a treatment summary; online health/lifestyle assessment; telehealth nurse consultations; multidisciplinary review; tailored survivorship recommendations for survivors and their nominated primary-care physician. Survivors treated at two Australian hospitals were eligible if diagnosed <18years, >5 years post-diagnosis, and completed treatment. Mixed-effects models examined change over time (baseline, 1-, 6-, 12-month) and differences by diagnosis (brain cancer vs other), adjusting for sex and age at diagnosis. Results: Of 138 consenting survivors 92% completed the health assessment and 89.1% completed the whole program (n=123). Median age was 24 years; median time since diagnosis was 15 years; 28% lived in rural/remote/regional areas; and 53% were brain cancer survivors. Program acceptability was high, with >80% of survivorsreporting Engage was helpful, improved knowledge and confidence, and was easy to access. Health-related self-efficacy improved over 12 months (χ²(3)=146.52, p<.001 ), with no evidence of differences in change between diagnostic groups (time × group; p=.97 ). HRQoL (EQ-5D index) improved modestly by 12 months (0.77 to 0.82; p=.011 ); brain cancer survivors reported lower baseline scores, with similar patterns of change over time. Satisfaction with care improved over time (χ²=35.59, p<.001 ), with higher satisfaction among non-brain cancer survivors (χ²=4.03, p=.045 ) but not over time (time×group p=.75 ). Among health behaviours, alcohol consumption decreased over time (χ²=16.20, p=001) and was higher overall among non-brain survivors (χ²=5.97, p=.015), with no time×group interaction ( p=.94 ). Adherence to personalised healthcare recommendations >50%, with greater adherence if discussed briefly during a follow-up nurse consult. Conclusions: Engage was associated with sustained improvements in survivors’ self-efficacy and satisfaction with care and modest improvements in HRQoL at 12-months follow-up. Similar trajectories across diagnosis groups suggest telehealth survivorship models can also support survivors with higher risk profiles (e.g., brain cancer survivors). Clinical trial information: ACTRN12621000590864.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Published
2026-05-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.1670
Primary Topic
Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

The Engage program for childhood cancer survivors: Results from a multidisciplinary, distance-delivered intervention.

Sara Soleymani, Elysia Thornton‐Benko, Richard J. Cohn, Karen Johnston et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
article

The Engage program for childhood cancer survivors: Results from a multidisciplinary, distance-delivered intervention.

Sara Soleymani, Elysia Thornton‐Benko, Richard J. Cohn, Karen Johnston, Dinisha Govender, Christina Signorelli, R. W. Baldwin, Jordana McLoone, Claire E. Wakefield, Ursula Sansom-Daly, Joseph Alchin, Kristen Neville, Adam Nelson
article en

Abstract

1670 Background: As the growing number of childhood cancer survivors exceeds follow-up care capacity, scalable models to improve access and support self-management are needed. We evaluated the effectiveness of the ‘Engage’ survivorship program (primary outcomes: self-efficacy and health-related quality of life; HRQoL). Methods: Engage is a multidisciplinary program comprising a treatment summary; online health/lifestyle assessment; telehealth nurse consultations; multidisciplinary review; tailored survivorship recommendations for survivors and their nominated primary-care physician. Survivors treated at two Australian hospitals were eligible if diagnosed <18years, >5 years post-diagnosis, and completed treatment. Mixed-effects models examined change over time (baseline, 1-, 6-, 12-month) and differences by diagnosis (brain cancer vs other), adjusting for sex and age at diagnosis. Results: Of 138 consenting survivors 92% completed the health assessment and 89.1% completed the whole program (n=123). Median age was 24 years; median time since diagnosis was 15 years; 28% lived in rural/remote/regional areas; and 53% were brain cancer survivors. Program acceptability was high, with >80% of survivorsreporting Engage was helpful, improved knowledge and confidence, and was easy to access. Health-related self-efficacy improved over 12 months (χ²(3)=146.52, p<.001 ), with no evidence of differences in change between diagnostic groups (time × group; p=.97 ). HRQoL (EQ-5D index) improved modestly by 12 months (0.77 to 0.82; p=.011 ); brain cancer survivors reported lower baseline scores, with similar patterns of change over time. Satisfaction with care improved over time (χ²=35.59, p<.001 ), with higher satisfaction among non-brain cancer survivors (χ²=4.03, p=.045 ) but not over time (time×group p=.75 ). Among health behaviours, alcohol consumption decreased over time (χ²=16.20, p=001) and was higher overall among non-brain survivors (χ²=5.97, p=.015), with no time×group interaction ( p=.94 ). Adherence to personalised healthcare recommendations >50%, with greater adherence if discussed briefly during a follow-up nurse consult. Conclusions: Engage was associated with sustained improvements in survivors’ self-efficacy and satisfaction with care and modest improvements in HRQoL at 12-months follow-up. Similar trajectories across diagnosis groups suggest telehealth survivorship models can also support survivors with higher risk profiles (e.g., brain cancer survivors). Clinical trial information: ACTRN12621000590864.

Journal of Clinical OncologyVol. 44(16_suppl)
Bond University (AU), Children's Hospital at Westmead (AU), UNSW Sydney (AU), Sydney Children's Hospital (AU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
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