Modality preferences for health behaviour interventions for post-treatment cancer survivors: a theoretical investigation

PURPOSES: User preferences for how programs are delivered are an important consideration when developing healthy living interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate (a) if cancer survivors prefer telephone or internet delivery for a healthy living intervention and (b) what factors were associated with delivery preference. METHODS: Australian cancer survivors (18 + years) were invited to complete an online or hardcopy cross-sectional survey measuring social and clinical demographic factors and validated measures of self-efficacy, health literacy, and social support. RESULTS: Of the 168 respondents, the majority were female (n = 147, 92%) and breast cancer survivors (n = 122, 80%) and preferred internet delivery (n = 109, 65%). Participants who preferred internet delivery had a longer time since diagnosis (M = 9.85 years, SD = 8.20) compared to those who preferred telephone (M = 6.80 years, SD = 5.54), p = .03. However, logistic regression analyses demonstrated that no other variables (age, gender, socio-economic status, BMI, education, self-efficacy, health literacy, nor social support) had a direct association on delivery preference. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer survivors appear to prefer internet delivery to telephone, particularly for those further along the survivorship trajectory. Future intervention development should therefore consider the internet modality for delivering accessible health interventions and offer the program to long-term cancer survivors. Whether these findings are replicable in the current post-pandemic phase is an important avenue for future research. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00520-023-07607-8.