The SoR has announced dedicated funding to support national research into radiotherapy skin care practices as part of the College of Radiographers Industry Partnership Scheme.
A proposed project entitled ‘The Use of Skin Care Products Across Radiotherapy Services and Care Pathways in the UK’ will seek to create a strong base of evidence for skin care advice and product recommendations throughout the radiotherapy care pathway.
Expressions of interest from individual researchers or research teams to act as principal investigator and host institution are being sought for this protected application to the College of Radiographers Industry Partnership Scheme (CoRIPS).
Supporting a robust national picture
Spencer Goodman, professional officer for radiotherapy, said: “This funding provides a timely opportunity to bring together research, clinical practice and professional guidance, supporting a robust national picture of current practice that can inform future radiotherapy skin care recommendations and service delivery.”
Increasing anecdotal evidence suggests radiotherapy services across the UK are recommending or using a variety of commercial skin care products that sit outside current guidance, with limited clarity on the evidence or reasons behind local decisions.
A lack of understanding on how advice and product recommendations are given across services, how decisions are made, and how closely current practice aligns with professional guidance before, during and after radiotherapy makes it important to develop a targeted, structured assessment of evidence.
Advice and recommendations
This evidence will be used to inform, support and update to the SoR’s Radiation Dermatitis Guidelines for Radiotherapy Healthcare Professionals, which aims to assess the effectiveness of interventions and practices that may prevent, reduce, or alter radiation-induced skin reactions in patients undergoing external beam radiotherapy for cancer.
Key research objectives include:
- Mapping practice patterns and factors influence skin care advice and product recommendations
- Identifying which products are recommended or used at different pathway stages, and how advice is communicated
- Exploring clinical, organisational and pathway-level reasons behind product choice and advice (e.g. perceived effectiveness, patient preference, service model, procurement/formulary arrangements, legacy practice)
- Assessing alignment with SoR guidance
- Undertaking a systemic review of literature relating to the products/approaches being used, to support evidence-informed guidance
The intended outcome of the project is to create a national overview of variation in skin care advice and product recommendations across radiotherapy services and care pathways, and an evidence summary aligned to products/approaches currently being recommended.
This project is intended as a research study, as opposed to an audit or service evaluation, using survey-based data collection.
Interested applicants should be able to demonstrate capacity to meet CoRIPS expectations, including:
- Academic leadership and governance, with a UK-based principal investigator; the ability to secure or facilitate ethical approval via an institutional research ethics committee
- Expertise in research design, survey methodology and analysis (quantitative and/or qualitative)
- Meaningful patient, public and stakeholder involvement and engagement (PPIE) from the earliest stages, including involvement in interpretation of findings and implications for guidance and practice
- A strong dissemination strategy, consistent with CoRIPS expectations, including submission to the peer-reviewed journal Radiography alongside wider professional and stakeholder dissemination.
The project will be supported through a dedicated CoRIPS research grant, with funding available in line with scheme limits.
More information can be found online on the CoRIPS page, or via this link.
(Image: Photo by Vladislav Stepanov, via Getty Images)