Iris Kanera

112 Chapter 5 Participants Dutch speaking individuals aged 18 years or older, who have been diagnosed with any type of cancer, and who have completed primary treatment (surgery, chemo- or radiation therapy) at least four weeks and up to 56 weeks prior to initial participation 1 with no sign of recurrence at the last control visit were eligible to be included in this study. Cancer survivors with severe medical, psychiatric, or cognitive disorders were excluded. Procedure Of the 45 Dutch hospitals approached, 22 hospitals agreed to participate. Medical staff from 21 hospitals recruited eligible participants from November 2013 through June 2014. Unfortunately, one hospital did not include any patients. Medical staff of various outpatient clinics (internal medicine, oncology, gynecology, urology, breast cancer care) assessed eligibility during the medical consultations or by reviewing patient files. Gender, age, type of cancer, type of treatment, and the termination date of primary cancer treatment were registered for all approached cancer survivors. Eligible cancer survivors received an information package, in person or by post, including comprehensive trial information, a general information brochure about scientific research (Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, 2014), an informed consent form, a short log-in instruction guide, a storage card with contact details and personal login codes to the KNW website. Consenting cancer survivors were asked to return the signed informed consent form to the researchers in an enclosed, pre-paid envelope. The participants received a reminder letter after two weeks. At the first login to the KNW, participants were automatically randomized to one of the two study conditions and the computer program directly provided information about their allocation. Data from participants who did not return the informed consent forms were excluded from analysis. After randomization, participants were invited to fill out the online self- report baseline questionnaire. Online follow-up measurements were conducted after three, six and 12 months. The IC received access to the KNW throughout the six months after completing the baseline assessment while the UC had access to the KNW after completing the 12 months measurement. Intervention A detailed description of the KNW intervention is reported elsewhere (Willems et al., 2015). The KNW (http:// www.kankernazorgwijzer.nl ) is a systematically developed, theory- 1 After recruitment, it was observed that participants had been included slightly earlier or later than initially defined (6-52 weeks after completion of primary treatment; Willems et al., 2015). This inclusion criterion was broadened to enable analysis of data filled out four weeks ( N = 13) and up to 56 weeks ( N = 7) after completion of primary treatment. We assumed that cancer survivors, who voluntarily participated two weeks earlier and one month later than predetermined, were not different as compared to the other participants.