Attitudes of Australian Patients Undergoing Treatment for Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers to Different Models of Nutrition Care Delivery: Qualitative Investigation

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Adults diagnosed with cancers of the stomach, esophagus, and pancreas are at high risk of malnutrition. In many hospital-based health care settings, there is a lack of systems in place to provide the early and intensive nutritional support that is required by these high-risk cancer patients. Our research team conducted a 3-arm parallel randomized controlled trial to test the provision of an early and intensive nutrition intervention to patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers using a synchronous telephone-based delivery approach versus an asynchronous mobile app–based approach delivered using an iPad compared with a control group to address this issue.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective</jats:title> <jats:p>This study aims to explore the overall acceptability of an early and intensive eHealth nutrition intervention delivered either via a synchronous telephone-based approach or an asynchronous mobile app–based approach.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>Patients who were newly diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal cancer and who consented to participate in a nutrition intervention were recruited. In-depth, semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted by telephone and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability in NVivo Pro 12 Plus.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>A total of 20 participants were interviewed, 10 from each intervention group (synchronous or asynchronous delivery). Four major themes emerged from the qualitative synthesis: participants’ self-efficacy, low levels of burden, and intervention comprehension were required for intervention effectiveness and positive affect; participants sought a sense of support and security through relationship building and rapport with their dietitian; knowledge acquisition and learni