Therapeutic radiographers are the first point of contact for cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment and therefore have an important role in providing both physical and psychosocial support to these patients. This study aimed to evaluate therapeutic radiographers’ perception about their role in identifying and providing psychosocial support for patients receiving RT treatment.

The study used a cross-sectional, prospective research design. A self-designed questionnaire was distributed to all therapeutic radiographers (n = 26) working at a radiotherapy department in Malta.

A total of 21 therapeutic radiographers completed the questionnaire. All participants felt that the provision of psychological care was an important part of their role as therapeutic radiographers. The majority of the participants reported having the most confidence in giving treatment-related symptoms advice rather than psychological support. The most common barrier to providing psychological support was lack of training (95·2%), followed by the lack of an appropriate screening tool (85·7%), availability of private space to talk to patients (76·2%) and a lack of knowledge (61·9%).

While most therapeutic radiographers believed that providing psychosocial support was an important aspect of their role, several barriers prevented them from fulfilling this role. Training, the introduction of a psychosocial screening tool and clear referral processes are recommended to improve radiotherapy service.

To explore student therapeutic radiographers’ understanding of obesity and cancer and to identify if student therapeutic radiographers believe that radiographers should have a role within weight management.

This study used a self-completed online questionnaire (google forms) to collect data from Radiotherapy and Oncology students, studying at one Higher Education Institution, to gain an understanding of their current knowledge of weight management. A retrospective margin of error calculation was carried out, showing a 9% margin of error with a 90% confidence level.

In total 57 responses were received, n = 50 BSc students and n = 7 pre-registration MSc students. Three key barriers to openly discussing weight loss management with service users emerged from the questionnaire data; these were a lack of time, lack of clear guidelines and lack of confidence. These barriers could potentially be addressed by improving education and training, making it easier for therapeutic radiographers to openly discuss weight management with service users.

Awareness of guidelines was suboptimal, with 82% (n = 47) of respondents unaware of any guidelines. In addition to this, the majority of students identified a lack of confidence as a barrier to them providing weight management advice. Despite this, 54·4% of respondents agreed that radiographers should have a role in providing weight management advice, with 22·2% of respondents being unsure. Findings suggest that behaviour change is required amounts both students and staff members, so that healthcare professionals are more inclined to have healthy weight management discussions. Perhaps more specialist roles need to be developed, so that healthy weight management discussions can become a norm.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of physical exercise in managing fatigue during radiotherapy for prostate cancer patients. It explores the impact of various physical exercise regimes and their role in the prevention and management of fatigue to help inform best practice.

A literature search was conducted on OVID Medline database with a follow-up search on google scholar to include relevant references found during the initial search. Relevant systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) arising from this search were reviewed.

There is evidence to support the notion that physical exercise in all its forms is an effective and safe intervention for fatigue management for prostate cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Although widely studied, there is limited evidence of fatigue management strategies being clearly implemented into current radiotherapy practice for patients with prostate cancer. This information is essential to enable therapeutic radiographers to educate prostate cancer patients regarding effective exercise strategies and ensure that fatigue is managed optimally.

Further research is required into the optimum physical exercise prescription to reduce radiation-induced fatigue, and standardised best practice guidelines should be developed nationally. A future move toward patient education into physical exercise and wellbeing should be a central component of the therapeutic radiographer role with specialist advice offered by review radiographers, empowering patients to become more physically active during treatment. Therapeutic radiographers have a unique opportunity to educate and promote physical exercise through a holistic wellbeing approach that aims to mitigate fatigue and improve quality of life.

The aims of this project were to identify the national range of breast boost radiotherapy doses and variations in treatment practice; determine the factors that potentially cause variations; and examine whether differences between regions are based on clinical evidence or access to technical and financial resources by surveying Therapeutic Radiographers across the United Kingdom to determine current radiotherapy boost practice.

A cross-sectional study design was selected. An electronic questionnaire using the website Survey Monkey® tool was utilised to collect categorical data from practicing Therapeutic Radiographers within the United Kingdom.

Participants were invited to participate from radiotherapy departments across the four countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). There are 52 radiotherapy departments across 12 regions of the United Kingdom.

In total, 34 Therapeutic Radiographers participated. Their responses were grouped according to their region of practice. Results indicated that there are ten different dose schedules offered to patients nationally for the treatment of breast boost, with 77% of respondents using electrons to deliver boost radiotherapy.

There is no general consensus among Therapeutic Radiographers about whether factors such as age, tumour size, tumour grade or the presence of negative or positive margins, influence the therapeutic doses prescribed for different patients. This may be attributed to the absence of clinical research evidence to support evidence-based practice.