Developing and Implementing an Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Approach (ITCA-ThyCa) for Thyroid Cancer Patients
Developing and Implementing an Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Approach (ITCA-ThyCa) for Thyroid Cancer Patients
While thyroid cancer is generally associated with a favourable prognosis, there is a
 discrepancy with how important if not traumatic its impact can be on patients. Quality of
 life (QoL) decreases in the year following a thyroid cancer diagnosis, constituting an
 optimal period for a preventive intervention. The goal of this study is to evaluate the
 impact of offering an interdisciplinary team-based care approach for newly diagnosed thyroid
 cancer patients, including a dedicated nurse who will provide important psychoeducational
 elements identified in previous focus group studies of thyroid cancer patients, i.e.,
 information on: the physical illness; the emotional impact of being newly diagnosed with
 thyroid cancer; surgery and its' short- and long-term consequences; radioactive iodine
 treatments and its associated safety precautions, nutrition and dietary considerations; and
 how the cancer diagnosis can be an opportunity to make important lifestyle changes and
 establish new life-priorities.
The investigators will conduct a 2-arm Randomized Controlled Trial comparing an
 Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Approach to usual care.

 The primary research question will be: Does adding the Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care
 Approach (ITCA-ThyCa) to usual care (EG) increase levels of overall QoL among newly diagnosed
 thyroid cancer patients, compared with those receiving usual care (UC), at 9 months
 post-randomization (i.e., after all of the dedicated-nurse meetings are administered) as
 judged by scores on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-General (FACT-G)?
 Primary hypothesis: The EG will report higher scores of overall QoL on the FACT-G than the UC
 at 9 months post-randomization.

 Secondary research questions: The investigators plan to evaluate ITCA-ThyCa effects on
 secondary outcomes such as level of: physical health (SF-36 Physical Health subscale), mental
 health (SF-36 Mental Health subscale), fatigue (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness
 Therapy-Fatigue; FACIT-F), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale;
 HADS), and negative illness perception (Illness Perception Questionnaire - Revised (IPQ-R).
 The investigators also plan to explore ITCA-ThyCa effects on satisfaction with care (16
 questions of the NRC Picker satisfaction survey measuring patient satisfaction with care) and
 healthcare service use (types of professionals consulted, frequency of visits, and time
 elapsed between referral and first consultation). Hypotheses: The EG will report a higher
 level of physical and mental health on the SF-Physical and Mental Health subscales,
 respectively; and a lower level of fatigue on the FACIT-F, anxiety and depression on the
 HADS, and negative illness perception on the IPQ-R; compared with the UC at 9 months
 post-randomization.

 All of the abovementioned changes will be present throughout the treatment, namely at 7-10
 days and 5 months post-randomization (i.e., immediately after each of the meetings planned
 with the dedicated nurse).

 All of the abovementioned changes will persist at 12 months post-randomization (i.e.,
 corresponding to 6 months after all anti-cancer treatments are completed and 3 months after
 all dedicated-nurse meetings have been administered).

 Feasibility and acceptability (9 first months of the trial):

 The investigators plan on testing the feasibility and acceptability of the 2-arm RCT of
 ITCA-ThyCa during the first 9 months of the trial (once the investigators start recruiting,
 after the first 3-6 months dedicated to hiring our personnel and developing the manual of our
 approach). During this phase, the investigators will aim to address the following research
 questions:

 1. Can the investigators recruit a sufficient number of patients (i.e., a minimum of 60
 patients over 6 months or 10/month) and retain a sufficient proportion of thyroid cancer
 patients (i.e., at least 80% at 7-10 days, 5 months or 9 months post-randomization) in
 both trial arms?

 2. Is ITCA-ThyCa acceptable to at least 80% of EG thyroid cancer patients? Secondary pilot
 study questions

 3. Which evaluation time should be primary post-randomization, based on an acceptable
 retention rate of 80%?

 4. What variance estimates can be used to inform calculation of sample size for the full
 study?

 If the design remains the same following this pilot, the investigators aim to roll in the
 pilot data in the full trial.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Newly diagnosed with a first occurrence of thyroid cancer <2-4 weeks of diagnosis
 (i.e., histologically confirmed thyroid cancer (papillary, follicular, or medullary
 type; TNM classification system);

 -  Willing to participate in the EG meetings;

 -  >18 years;

 -  Alert and capable of giving free and informed consent;

 -  Able to speak and read English or French.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Anaplastic thyroid cancer;

 -  Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score <60 (rated by the Research Coordinator (RC)
 or referring physician) or expected survival <6 months according to clinical judgment.