Background: Accessing ongoing and specialist education remains a significant challenge for regional healthcare professionals, despite national health policy advocating for care closer to home. In this context, the VCCC Alliance successfully obtained funding through the Cancer Patient Support Program, a Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Grant in 2024, to co-design a National Educational Support Strategy aimed at addressing educational needs identified by a national regional and rural cancer care workforce stakeholder group.
Aims: To present preliminary evaluation data from 1131 participants since strategy commencement in January 2025.
Methods: Retrospective pre- and post- activity surveys collected demographic data and assessment participant experiences, satisfaction, intention to change practice, relevance in addressing education gaps, and pre- and post- event confidence and knowledge levels. Data comprised descriptive quantitative and short answer qualitative components.
Results: Since January 2025, 1131 participants attended a live educational event, with a further 583 accessing recordings at a later date. 257 participants completed feedback surveys within a week of attendance. Twelve live events were delivered: 9 National Regional Cancer Forums and 3 Journal Clubs. Survey respondents reported high levels of overall satisfaction (87.29%), perceived relevance in addressing education gaps (76.67%), intention to change practice (81.00%) and satisfaction content is relevant to diverse populations (86.00%). Retrospective pre- and post-survey data indicates a decrease in self-reported low confidence and low knowledge levels, alongside an increase in self-reported high confidence and high knowledge levels along participants. In response to qualitative feedback and low participation in journal clubs, the format was adapted to a podcast model to enhance accessibility.
Conclusion: Iterative evaluation of the National Education Support Strategy enables responsive refinement of the program. This approach optimises resource allocation and ensures alignment with the learning needs of the rural cancer care workforce, supporting the delivery of precision-informed, personalised cancer care across regions.