Abstract
Patients who receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) undergo complex treatment regimens often accompanied by significant physical and psychological symptom burdens. However, patient access to psychosocial care is limited, likely in the context of persistent shortages of supportive care clinicians and services. Clinicians can offer valuable insights into psychosocial needs, barriers to accessing psychosocial support, and recommendations to improve psychosocial care for the HSCT population. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perspectives of HSCT clinicians to better understand the challenges HSCT recipients face accessing psychosocial support and how these barriers can inform strategies to enhance psychosocial care. Unlike existing literature that largely focuses on unmet needs in the HSCT population from patient perspectives and patient-reported outcomes, this study delves into the unique insights of HSCT clinicians. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to recruit clinicians across specialties in the United States, including mental health and oncology, involved in HSCT care. Semistructured individual interviews were conducted to explore psychosocial care within HSCT programs. Using a framework-guided rapid analysis, 2 coders analyzed the interviews for emergent themes. Participants (N = 21) shared perspectives on multiple emerging themes, including (1) patient psychosocial challenges (eg, isolation, psychological distress); (2) barriers to psychosocial care (eg, workforce shortage, gaps in integration and continuity of care); and (3) recommendations to improve care delivery (eg, adopting a holistic, team-based model that is proactive and tailored to the needs of HSCT patients throughout their treatment and recovery). Findings highlight critical gaps in psychosocial care for HSCT recipients and offer actionable clinician recommendations to improve psychosocial care delivery for the HSCT population.