Participatory development and feasibility study of a digital intervention for detecting and treating bio-psycho-social needs of long-term cancer survivors: study protocol of the DELPHIN study

Introduction Long-term cancer survivors may suffer from significant bio-psycho-social burden even years after treatment. Yet, a structured approach to detect and address bio-psycho-social burden of long-term cancer survivors in primary care is missing in Germany, although family physicians are the primary medical contact for most patients.

In this paper, we describe the DELPHIN study aiming to develop and test a structured care model for long-term cancer survivors. The DELPHIN study and intervention will facilitate networking of regional medical and non-medical services.

This protocol describes the intervention as well as the pilot study. Methods The DELPHIN study comprises a developmental and a feasibility phase.

In the developmental phase, we will assess (1) the current care needs of long-term cancer survivors (n=1000) using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey; (2) in an additional cross-sectional questionnaire survey, we will address medical and non-medical care providers to assess current care practice for this patient group (n≥250); (3) a qualitative interview study with both long-term cancer survivors (n=12) and family physicians (n=10) will assess patients' needs and barriers for effective care.