Implementation of a Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy training (MCPT) program for oncology clinicians: a qualitative analysis of facilitators and barriers

The Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy training program (MCPT) is a multimodal, intensive, in-person program that trains cancer care providers in the evidence-based psychosocial treatment Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP). This analysis aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to clinical implementation (CI) at 1 year post-training. Trainee feedback regarding CI was collected via a mixed-methods questionnaire, including rating the ease of CI and free-text response identifying facilitators and barriers to CI. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis of follow-up data from the first five MCPT training cohorts (n = 55) were performed to assess CI and its facilitators and barriers. One third of participants indicated that it was at least somewhat difficult to implement MCP in clinical practice. Trainee-identified facilitators and barriers to CI were characterized within four main categories: program, patient, treatment, and institution. Within each of these factors, clinicians reported a variety of components that contributed to or hindered their ability to implement MCP. MCPT itself was reported as a facilitator. Patient access and interest were simultaneously identified as facilitators for some and barriers for others. Some trainees found the MCP treatment structure helpful in addressing important patient psychosocial needs, while others felt it was too restrictive. Institutional support played an important role in whether trainees felt hindered or helped to implement MCP. These initial results provide important insight into the program's strengths and have fostered improvements to the MCPT program to better facilitate CI. Further study of MCPT CI is warranted, and theme refinement will be possible with a larger sample.

Automated summary

The study examined the barriers and facilitators to clinical implementation of the Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy training program. Results showed that factors such as institutional support, patient needs, and the training program itself influenced clinicians' ability to implement Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in clinical practice. Further research is needed to explore these findings with a larger sample size.