Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of locally advanced ...

planned approach is necessary to overcome specific barriers to implementation in particular settings
and to identify appropriate incentives to encourage uptake of guideline recommendations.
Implementation of the Guidelines will require a combination of effective strategies and may include
further CME initiatives and interactive learning, the development and promotion of computer-assisted
decision aids and electronic decision-support systems, and the creation of audit and other clinical
tools.
A2.6 Consumer feedback process for Consumer version of
Clinical practice Guidelines
A consumer document has been produced and is in its implementation phase.
To ensure strong consumer input into the development of the consumer version of the Guidelines, we
worked in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA). This organisation
has a network of over 80 peer support groups in each state and territory. All peer support groups
involve families as well as men with prostate cancer.
The PCFA nominated support group members for the consumer guide committee. Two members with
advanced prostate cancer, Mr Trevor Hunt and Mr Don Baumber were nominated initially, and made
enormously helpful contributions in the early stages. As we approached the final stages of
development, two additional peer support members, Mr Bill McHugh and Max Shub were also
appointed. Bill is immediate past Chair of the Support and Advocacy Committee of the Prostate
Cancer Foundation of Australia.
When the final draft of the Guide was ready for feedback, Bill McHugh and Max Shub organized a
process, so that all support group members in all states and territories could provide feedback on a
section (three chapters) of the Guide. Because the Guide was very long (250 pages), it was thought
that this was the best way to get feedback on all chapters in the Guide, but not overburden men and
their families with too much to read. Feedback was then compiled by two medical members of the
PCFA support group network and forwarded to the committee. The revised document was then
reviewed again by these members and our consumer representatives.
When the consumer guide was launched, presentations were organised in Sydney, Melbourne and
Brisbane at a PCFA event featuring a visiting international speaker, medical oncologist and prostate
cancer survivor Dr Charles “Snuffy” Meyers. All of these events were well attended (200 or more
attendees), providing discussion and feedback. The Guide was also launched at the Urological Society
of Australia and New Zealand’s annual meeting in February 2010.
Widespread distribution to Urologists and other clinicians has been initiated by Andrology Australia
and there has been enthusiastic uptake at the practice level. The document is available for download
from the four major organisations, which are sources of prostate cancer information nationally
(Andrology Australia www.andrologyaustralia.org, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
www.pcfa.org.au, Cancer Council Australia www.cancer.org.au/clinicalguidelines, Lions Australian
Prostate Cancer website www.prostatehealth.org.au ).
The book has been welcomed by major consumer organisations.
References
1. National Health and Research Council. A guide to the development, evaluation and
implementation of clinical practice guidelines. Commonwealth of Australia, 1999. Available
at
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