The IPOS-ECHO African Capacity-Building Program: An Impactful Training Initiative to Disseminate Psycho-Oncology in Africa

Abstract Background: To address the existing disparity in access to psychosocial oncology services in low and middle-income countries of Africa, the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS)-Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) training program was designed to build capacity in evidence-based psycho-oncology practice through a monthly virtual continuing education, support, and mentorship for 12 months. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate a novel IPOS-ECHO training program on key psychosocial oncology practice indicators and identify implementation barriers experienced by participants in using the acquired knowledge and skills. Methods: Participants for the program were recruited through announcements on the IPOS website, as well as on healthcare systems and oncology-related association platforms in Africa. The University of New Mexico/NCI Project ECHO (Extending Community Health Outreach) model was adopted in engaging a cohort of oncology professionals practicing in diverse African oncology settings. Data were gathered from online application forms, and questionnaires were completed before training, right after each session, and at a 3-month follow-up after the end of the program. Result: A total of 43 professionals working with patients with cancer across 10 countries within 4 regions of Africa were recruited into the program. Most of the professionals were psychologists (30%), nurses (26%), doctors (21%), and social workers (9%). The participants had a median session participation rate of 77%, with a median postsession survey response rate of 75%. The participants significantly improved in all 11 sessions on self-reported knowledge ( P < 0.01). The most commonly self-reported area of impact of the IPOS-ECHO on psychosocial oncology practice was knowledge and improved skills, reported by a median of 88% and 79% of the participants, respectively. Postintervention self-rated adoption of lessons learned from each IPOS-ECHO session was significant for half of the sessions ( P < 0.05). The most common self-reported implementation barriers to using acquired skills and knowledge even at 3 months after intervention were the lack of material resources (40%), lack of personnel resources (36%), and need for more training (32%). The least reported implementation barriers were lack of opportunity to use the skill (4%), lack of political will (16%), and lack of time (24%). Conclusion: The IPOS-ECHO training sessions have shown promise in building capacity in psycho-oncology practice among the first African cohort of professionals who participated in the program. It is important to take advantage of this success to grow the practice of psychosocial oncology care in Africa and to expand it to other underserved settings.