Developing and Implementing an Interdisciplinary Team-Based Care Approach (ITCA-ThyCa) for Thyroid Cancer Patients

While thyroid cancer is generally associated with a favourable prognosis, there is a discrepancy with how important if not traumatic its impact can be on patients. Quality of life (QoL) decreases in the year following a thyroid cancer diagnosis, constituting an optimal period for a preventive intervention. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of offering an interdisciplinary team-based care approach for newly diagnosed thyroid cancer patients, including a dedicated nurse who will provide important psychoeducational elements identified in previous focus group studies of thyroid cancer patients, i.e., information on: the physical illness; the emotional impact of being newly diagnosed with thyroid cancer; surgery and its\' short- and long-term consequences; radioactive iodine treatments and its associated safety precautions, nutrition and dietary considerations; and how the cancer diagnosis can be an opportunity to make important lifestyle changes and establish new life-priorities.