Barriers to utilisation of cancer rehabilitation from the expert's view: a cross‐sectional survey

Abstract: Objective
The goal of this study was to investigate barriers to utilisation of cancer rehabilitation by querying a large sample of various professionals in health care with a comprehensive set of barriers.

Methods
We developed a questionnaire comprising 55 barriers to utilisation of cancer rehabilitation and administered it to four different types of medical, care and social work experts involved in the referral to cancer rehabilitation. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted and the extracted factors were ranked by mean values. Additionally, ANOVAs were calculated to test for group differences.

Results
Our sample (N = 606) consisted of 249 physicians, 194 social workers, 105 nurses and 55 psychologists in Germany. We identified seven barrier-dimensions: low appreciation of rehabilitation by professionals, insufficient coordination, insufficient application procedure, rehabilitation requirements not met, patients' unfulfilled demands, patients' social responsibilities and patients' coping style, with the latter being rated as the most obstructive thereof. Furthermore, we found statistically significant group differences for six of these factors with small- to medium-sized effects.

Conclusion
Our results support previous publications implicating the patients' coping style as a barrier. We furthermore found evidence for barriers relating to processes and organisational issues, thereby expanding on the scope of patient-oriented publications. Suggestions for improving patients' health services accessibility are made

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: European journal of cancer care. - 31, 1 (2022) , e13522, ISSN: 1365-2354

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2021
• Creator: Maiwald, Phillip ; Weis, Joachim ; Kurlemann, Ulrich ; Dresch, Carolin ; Rademaker, AnnaLena ; Valentini, Jan ; Joos, Stefanie ; Heidt, Vitali ; Bartsch, Hans Helge

Further information

• DOI: 10.1111/ecc.13522
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2220425
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:21 AM CEST