Rapid Fire Best of the Best Oral 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

Building consensus and identifying priorities: using a Delphi technique to define core elements and clinical determinates for a nutrition model of care for people with cancer (126408)

Jenelle Loeliger 1 2 3 4 , Anna Ugalde 5 , Judi Porter 1 2 , Nicole Kiss 1 2
  1. Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  2. School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  3. Nutrition and Speech Pathology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Objectives/purpose:

Access to cancer nutrition care and information is often poor and it can be challenging for cancer services to put models of care into practice. The aim of this study was to seek consensus from consumers and nutrition experts on the core elements and key clinical determinants for a nutrition model of care for people with cancer.

Sample and setting:

A two-round, national online Delphi study was conducted February-May 2025. Proposed items were developed via a scoping review and research team discussion, then presented to a panel of nutrition experts and consumers from around Australia.  

Procedures:

Panellists rated their level of agreement on an 11-point Likert scale for importance and feasibility against 62 proposed items. Relative response frequencies were assessed against a priori thresholds to determine consensus ratings for each item [‘strong consensus’ if ≥70% of participants rated ≥7 for both importance and feasibility].

Results:

Sixty-nine panellists participated in Round 1 [n=47 (68.1%) nutrition experts, n=22 (31.9%) consumers] and 60 in Round 2 [n=41 (68.3%) nutrition experts, n=19 (31.7%) consumers]. Strong consensus was reached (both importance and feasibility) for a total of 32 items, including 8/10 core elements and 24/52 key clinical determinants that underpin and support the implementation of a nutrition model of care for people with cancer. Findings identified key issues relating to access and equity, evidence-based clinical practices, leadership, workforce and resource allocation.

Conclusion and clinical implications:

Consensus on a set of core elements and key clinical determinants for a nutrition model of care was achieved by a national group of experts. These findings will inform an evidence-based framework for a model of nutrition care for people with cancer and has potential to enhance the implementation of best practice nutrition care, policy and future research directions.