Health Care Providers’ Perspectives of an Intervention Designed to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in Family Medicine Residency Clinics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to obtain feedback from family medicine residents and clinic nurses regarding a colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) intervention. Focus groups were used to ask participants three questions about their perceptions of the intervention and subsequent patient screening behaviors. Content analysis and constant comparison were used to yield two meaningful themes from the participant responses: patient-specific issues and study design issues. Patient-specific issues included: lack of education and fear, finances and insurance coverage, and compliance. Study design issues included: lack of time, a need for reminders to discuss CRCS with patients, quality of the nurse’s role, and a need for better clinical staff education and awareness. Results show ways to significantly improve future implementation of the CRCS intervention. Ultimately, future use of clinic-based CRCS interventions could be vastly improved by utilizing strategies to promote teamwork and increase the sense of mutual ownership among clinic staff.