Manuela Eicher

• Prof.Dr.rer.medic.
• Professor (Associate) at University Lausanne, Institute of Higher Education and Research in Health Care

Purpose: To describe health care professionals’ (HCPs’) perceptions of the implementation of an online mindfulness-based cancer recovery (eMBCR) program in the gyneco-oncology departments of two university hospitals in Switzerland. Methods: The study analyzed determinants drawn from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) usin...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic exerted unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems worldwide, leading governments and hospitals to postpone elective procedures to prioritize care for COVID-19 patients. Cancer patients, who often require frequent interactions with hospital services, may have been disproportionately affected by these disuptions in...

Background: Different approaches exist to support self-management in breast cancer (BC) survivors. The aim of this project was to co-create a new version of an existing peer-led program to meet the needs of BC survivors in Switzerland. In a pilot study, the preliminary efficacy in terms of self-management skills and symptom burden and the feasibili...

Les infirmier-ères clinicien-nes spécialisé-es (ICLS) sont des infirmier-ères titulaires d'un Master. Leurs compétences clés comprennent le leadership, l'entrepreneuriat et la recherche. En prenant l'exemple du programme Symptom Navi, nous montrons l'importance des ICLS dans le développement d'un projet innovant et leur rôle de leadership pour l'im...

Objectives: To identify subgroups of patients with distinct psychological profiles at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate for differences. Sample & setting: Online survey of patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods & variables: Patients completed measures of demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as...

Background Patient experience surveys gather information on various aspects of care via numerous survey items. Identifying the most critical areas of patient experience to prioritize for quality care improvement can be challenging. The objective of this study was to determine which care experience items are the drivers influencing patients' overall...

Collecting patient opinions is fundamental to personalizing care, promoting shared decision-making, and fostering patient engagement in care. The systematic, large-scale collection of these opinions also enables to evaluate the impact of care on health and the extent to which care is responding to people’s needs. The SCAPE surveys, introduced in Sw...

Background Experience‐Based Co‐Design (EBCD) is a multi‐stage participatory action research process which was developed originally to increase patient involvement in service improvement initiatives. This viewpoint article serves as a reflection on the researchers' experiences, focusing on the application and feasibility of participatory approaches,...

Background Patients with fewer socioeconomic and health literacy resources are disadvantaged in their access and use of healthcare, which may give rise to worse experiences with care and thus inequalities in patient experiences. However, only a limited number of studies have examined how socioeconomic and health literacy factors shape inequalities...

Background Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer unique opportunities to support self-care and behavior change, but poor user engagement limits their effectiveness. This is particularly true for fully automated mHealth apps without any human support. Human support in mHealth apps is associated with better engagement but at the cost of reduced scalabil...

Background Women with ovarian or endometrial cancer experience multiple symptoms during chemotherapy. Specialized cancer nurses possess specific knowledge and competencies to effectively monitor and manage treatment-related toxicities and provide self-management support. Objective To describe the conception and development of a comprehensive cance...

Background Patients’ economic status and level of health literacy may influence their experiences with healthcare services. However, few studies have examined how these factors shape inequalities in patient-reported experiences measures (PREMs), particularly in cancer care. Thus, we investigated whether experiences of cancer care differed according...

Background Management of severe symptomatic immune-related adverse events (IrAEs) related to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can be facilitated by timely detection. As patients face a heterogeneous set of symptoms outside the clinical setting, remotely monitoring and assessing symptoms by using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) may result in sho...

Background Understanding how patient-reported experiences of care and overall rating of care vary among patients with different characteristics is useful to help interpret results from patient experience surveys and design targeted improvement interventions. The primary objective of this paper was to identify the socio-demographic and health-relate...

BACKGROUND Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer unique opportunities to support self-care and behavior change, but poor user engagement limits their effectiveness. This is particularly true for fully automated mHealth apps without any human support. Human support in mHealth apps is associated with better engagement but at the cost of reduced scalabil...

Objective The Covid −19 pandemic has had a major influence on the organization of cancer care. Little is known about how patients with cancer and their relatives experienced this period. This study explored these experiences and levels of distress and resilience of Dutch cancer patients and their family caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Met...

Purpose The use of electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) data in routine care has been tied to direct patient benefits such as improved quality of care and symptom control and even overall survival. The modes of action behind such benefits are seldom described in detail. Here, we describe the development of a model of care leveraging ePRO data...

Purpose This study aims to describe the experience of Swiss oncological patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A national multi-center study including five hospitals covering the three main language regions of Switzerland was conducted between March and July 2021. Patients with melanoma, breast, lung, or colon cancer receiving active syste...

Introduction: Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research emphasizes the importance of doing research with, rather than for people with lived health/illness experience(s). The purpose of this scoping review is to investigate the breadth and depth of scientific literature on PPI in cancer research and to identify how is PPI applied and reporte...

TPS1617 Background: Disease- and tx-related symptoms negatively affect quality of life and may become life-threatening. There is a need for improved understanding, prevention, reduction and mitigation of symptoms, and tools to facilitate remote tracking of pt-reported outcomes (PROs) and support self-management of symptoms. As anticancer txs are in...

1603 Background: SM includes pts’ abilities and activities to manage symptoms, treatment (tx), and any problems inherent to a chronic condition. Tailored SM support is recommended in cancer care. DPM enables pts to systematically self-report disease- or tx-related symptoms, communicate directly with healthcare professionals (HCPs), and access suppo...

BACKGROUND Management of severe symptomatic immune-related adverse events (IrAEs) related to immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) can be facilitated by timely detection of these complications. As patients face a heterogeneous set of symptoms outside the clinical setting, remotely monitoring and assessing symptoms using patient-reported outcomes (PRO)...

Introduction: Digital patient monitoring (DPM) tools can enable more effective clinical care and improved patient outcomes in cancer. However, their broad adoption requires ease of use and demonstration of real-world clinical utility/impact. ORIGAMA (MO42720) is an interventional, open-label, multicountry platform study investigating the clinical...

Purpose Cancer care is undergoing a conceptual shift with the introduction of the principles of patient-centered care to support patients’ individual needs. These needs include those related to hospitality during cancer treatments. This paper aims to provide an extension of the supportive care framework by bringing in the hospitality approach inspi...

Objective: To review the state of oncology nursing science as it pertains to big data. The authors aim to define and characterize big data, describe key considerations for accessing and analyzing big data, provide examples of analyses of big data in oncology nursing science, and highlight ethical considerations related to the collection and analys...

Adoptive cell therapies (ACT) have demonstrated promise in the treatment of patients with cancer, leading to long-lasting responses and, in some cases, even cure. Technological advances have brought these individualized therapies closer to reality, establishing them as credible therapeutic option. However, to date, few efforts have been made to und...

During the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals faced a challenge to manage patients, especially those with other comorbidities and medical needs, such as cancer patients. Here, we use Process Mining to analyze real-world therapeutic pathways in a cohort of 1182 cancer patients of the Lausanne University Hospital following COVID-19 infec...

Nurses are in a privileged position to support patients affected by cancer with their self-management of symptoms. As part of the Symptom Navi Pilot study, we further evaluated nurses adoption of the Symptom Navi Programme regarding fidelity to training and potential barriers for long-term implementation.

The Symptom Navi Programme is a self-management support intervention based on choaching and facilitating patients' self-efficacy. We present our results regarding nurses' acceptance and application of the program, as well as patients' and their family members perspective.

Aims To examine and refine a conceptual model of resilience in adult cancer care based on the perspectives and experiences of resilience in adults with colorectal cancer. Design A descriptive qualitative study was performed. Methods Twelve participants diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had completed cancer treatment with curative intent were...

Purpose This study aimed to explore the cancer care experiences of people living with and beyond cancer during COVID-19 in Ireland. Methods The study adopted a longitudinal qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with sixteen participants. Interviews were undertaken on three occasions over six months (January–June 2021). The National C...

Résumé L’essor des traitements oraux en oncologie et plus particulièrement les thérapies ciblées ont connu un développement rapide ces vingt dernières années. Ces thérapies font partie, à ce jour, des traitements standard. La plupart du temps, ces traitements oraux sont autogérés par les patients. Par conséquent, de nouveaux modèles de prise en cha...

Background Evidence for effectiveness of nurse-led interventions FOR cancer-related symptoms is of variable quality. This study aimed to identify, appraise and evaluate the nature and effectiveness of nurse-led interventions on symptoms for people with cancer. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ten major databases were searched (2000 t...

Onkologische Erkrankungen nehmen in der Schweiz zu und die Betroffenen sind vermehrt mit einem chronischen Verlauf konfrontiert. Bei chronischen Krebserkrankungen ist das Erlernen vom Selbstmanagement bei Symptomen zentral. Pflegefachpersonen können das Selbstmanagement unterstützen, wenn sie in Edukationsgesprächen die Selbstwirksamkeit der Betrof...

Background Weighing risks and benefits is currently the primary criterion for decisions regarding systemic anticancer treatment (SACT) in far advanced cancer patients, also in the modern immunotherapy- and molecular-targeted driven oncology. Decision aids rarely include substantially key concepts of early integrated palliative care (PC) and communi...

Introduction: Literature on the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients pointed towards an increase in uncertainty, anxiety, fear and distress. Our aim was to analyze cancer patient-reported experiences through a qualitative ap proach to identify their potential concerns, needs and resources during the pandemic and to evaluate their levels of distres...

Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is increasingly recognized and encouraged by public and funding bodies. Although gaining momentum, the implementation of PPI in Switzerland remains recent. Since 2021, the Laboratoire des Patients, affiliated to the Swiss Cancer Center Léman (SCCL), aims to establish a PPI model for oncology research...

Background Safety measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated universities to reorganise teaching to accommodate the students' needs, including nursing students who had been called back into clinical practice to support front-line nursing. Purpose To describe the experiences of post-graduate students in nursing sciences (experienced in clin...

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients experience distressing symptoms that can significantly impact their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We analyzed the implementation of a nurse-led consultation (NLC) and explored potential associations with symptom burden in HNC patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed routinely collec...

The University Hospital of Lausanne has heavily invested in the development of interdisciplinary oncology centers to improve the quality of care, and structure research and training. By integrating specialist nurses, it follows international recommendations. These specialists' nurses rephrase the information given by the doctor and ensure patients'...

Background: Immune-related adverse events (IrAEs) associated with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may not be fully covered by existing measures like the PRO-CTCAE™. Selecting PRO-CTCAE™ items for monitoring symptomatic adverse events is hindered by the heterogeneity and complexity of IrAEs, and no standardised selection process exis...

Background: The Symptom Navi Program (SNP) is a nurse-led intervention supporting basic symptom self-management for patients with any cancer diagnosis. The SNP has been accepted by patients and healthcare professionals alike. Objective: The aims of this study were to pilot the SNP and evaluate patient-reported symptom outcomes, nursing support f...

Purpose Studies focusing on patients with and survivors of cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic highlight unique psychological and behavioral challenges. These findings were obtained in surveys using self-report questionnaires with pre-specified response options that may not capture the broad range of experiences of individuals affected by cancer, i...

Compared with the general population, oncology patients face a higher morbidity and mortality caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, health systems had to quickly adapt cancer care in order to maintain the best quality and patient safety. From March to May and from October to December 2020, 254 patients diagnosed with cancer and tested posit...

Participant adherence to standardized 8-week mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may be challenging, and adaptations from intervention protocols have been reported in mindfulness research. We conducted a scoping review to determine how women with breast or gynecological cancer adhered to standardized 8-week MBIs delivered in intervention studies...

EVIVO is a well-established chronic disease self-management program, having been successfully implemented during the last decade in Switzerland. The program has shown positive results in facilitation of self-management competences for patients living with chronic diseases and their relatives. EVIVO was designed to run for 6 weeks with weekly sessio...

Delivering optimal cancer care to children, adolescents and adults with ASD has recently become a healthcare priority and represents a major challenge for all providers involved. In this review, and after consideration of the available evidence, we concisely deliver key information on this heterogenous group of neurodevelopmental disorders, as well...

Background: Mind-body interventions have the potential to reduce cancer patients’ distress during initial care and rehabilitation, but access to face-to-face interventions is often limited due to entry barriers such as geographical distance, time, financial constraints, or lack of service providers, or due to rules on hygiene and social distancing...

Context: Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have shown significant benefits for overall survival across various cancer types. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are assessed in clinical trials as a measure of efficacy. However, it remains unclear to what extent current PRO instruments capture symptoms specific to ICI toxicities. We conducted a syste...

Background Patient experience surveys are increasingly conducted in cancer care as they provide important results to consider in future development of cancer care and health policymaking. These surveys usually include closed-ended questions (patient-reported experience measures (PREMs)) and space for free-text comments, but published results are mo...

Integrative medicine combines the virtues of conventional medicine and complementary medicine in order to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from cancer. Thanks to a multidisciplinary and multi-professional team, the Center for integrative and complementary medicine (CEMIC) allows since 2017 cancer patients at CHUV to have access to...

Background and aims The occurrence rate of adverse events (AEs) related to care among hospitalized oncology patients in Switzerland remains unknown. The primary objective of this study was to describe, for the first time, the occurrence rate, type, severity of harm, and preventability of AEs related to care, reported in health records of hospitaliz...

In der Schweiz ist kein einheitliches Vorgehen zur Unterstützung des Symptom-Selbstmanagements bei Krebstherapien etabliert. Da systemische Krebstherapien häufig ambulant durchgeführt werden, könnte ein standardisiertes Vorgehen Krebsbetroffenen helfen, ihre physischen und psychosozialen Symptome besser zu erkennen und autonomer damit umzugehen. In...

Prof. Manuela Eicher und Marika Bana moderierten am 16. April 2020 ein Webinar mit Pflegeexpertinnen und -experten der Onkologiepflege. Eingeladene Expertinnen und Experten waren: Monika Biedermann, Matthias Hellberg-Naegele, Dianah Malin, Ernst Näf, Franziska Schmidt und Cristina Studer. In diesem Artikel fassen wir die diskutierten Themen zusamme...

Objective The peer-led Cancer Thriving and Surviving Program (CTS) has demonstrated improved health outcomes for cancer survivors. We describe a co-creative process for adapting the CTS for breast cancer survivors in Switzerland and integrating the program into the clinical pathway of Swiss breast centers. Methods A co-creative approach was employ...

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are the patient’s assessment of their own health status, free from the interpretation of any third party, including healthcare providers. They convey valuable information on issues that are not easily assessed by healthcare providers, such as symptom frequency and burden or health-related quality of life, which are...

Background and Purpose Few tools exist to measure real-time patient demands for care and match them with the supply of available nurses. We translated the Oncology Acuity Tool into a French version (for Switzerland) and conducted preliminary validation. Methods The setting was two French-speaking Swiss hospitals. Methods included translation and h...

Background: Cancer diagnosis and treatments may present severe adversity and challenge an individual adaptation ability. Individual resilience might be an important factor influencing the response to adversity in adult cancer patients. To date, the concept of individual resilience in adults with cancer has not been analysed in detail. Objective:...

Background The occurrence rate of adverse events (AEs) in hospitalised cancer patients in Switzerland remains unknown. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Global Trigger Tool (GTT) is among the most used methods to identify AEs. However, the GTT lacks oncology-specific triggers. Therefore, we developed a GTT-based Swiss Oncology Trigger...

Support self-management of symptoms in cancer therapies:The Symptom-Navi-Program Abstract. Background: Cancer patients experience a variety of symptoms associated with their disease and treatment. Many patients express uncertainty how to self-manage these symptoms. We developed the Symptom-Navi-Program (SNP) to support cancer patients' symptom self...

Introduction Self-management interventions show promising results on symptom outcomes and self-management behaviours. The Symptom Navi© Programme (SN©P) is a nurse-led intervention supporting patients’ symptom self-management during anticancer treatment. It consists of written patient information (Symptom Navi© Flyers (SN©Flyers)), semistructured c...

Background Advances in research and technology coupled with an increased cancer incidence and prevalence have resulted in significant expansion of cancer nurse role, in order to meet the growing demands and expectations of people affected by cancer (PABC). Cancer nurses are also tasked with delivering an increasing number of complex interventions...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the acceptance of a novel role, the advanced practice nurse in lung cancer (APNLC), from the perspective of patients and healthcare professionals in a country lacking a regulatory oversight for advanced practice nursing (APN) roles. Methods and design: This study utilized a qualitative methodolog...

Background: Advances in research and technology coupled with an increased cancer incidence and prevalence have resulted in significant expansion of cancer nurse role, in order to meet the growing demands and expectations of people affected by cancer (PABC). Cancer nurses are also tasked with delivering an increasing number of complex interventions...

Background There is huge variation in the roles, competencies, and functions of oncology nurses all over Europe. Even on a national level, they might differ between different regions and settings. This article provides a brief overview of different roles of oncology nurses in Europe. Materials and methods Based on literature summarizing different...

Objective We developed two intensity levels of a complex intervention for inter‐professional supportive care in cancer (IPSC‐C) to facilitate resilience and reduce unmet supportive care needs. We aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of both intensity levels in routine practice. Methods In a randomized, non‐com...

Review question/objective: The objective of this psychometric review is to identify needs assessment instruments for informal dementia caregivers which are:More specifically, the aim is to present an overview and an evaluation of the available needs assessment instruments, including: i) their psychometrics (reliability and validity) when available...

Background: Informal dementia caregivers (IDCs) are often confronted with important fluctuations in care-related burden, commonly described as "good and bad days." These fluctuations are overlooked by traditional questionnaires focusing on the average experience. The experience sampling method (ESM) is based on the repeated collection of data in e...

Purpose: There are limited data on the effectiveness of Advanced Practice Nurses in Lung Cancer (APNLC). Previous studies have demonstrated barriers to investigation including low recruitment and high attrition rates in lung cancer population. The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of APNLC consultations and the ability to col...