Cancer survivors and their carers experience a range of health and support needs. Limited research is available to guide supportive care interventions to address these needs. A review of a multidisciplinary patient education program designed to facilitate the transition for individuals with cancer completing treatment was undertaken. This clinical research was designed to examine survivor perspectives towards the program specifically and issues of survivorship more generally.
Four separate data tools were utilised to methodologically triangulate the evaluation, providing both a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the benefits of and barriers to a supported transition.
75% of the cancer survivors invited to attend the transition program declined to do so. Those that did attend reported a qualitative benefit, but this benefit was not reflected in the quantitative analysis. Patients expressed clear preferences in terms of their self identified needs as cancer survivors.
Cancer survivors have voiced their preference for a supported transition that empowers them to understand and manage the implications of survivorship in a personally relevant manner. The predominant barriers to such a supported transition to cancer survivorship are both organisational and patient based in origin. The utilisation of the proposed Survivorship Care Framework may assist in the development of policy and procedure that offers lasting benefits for travellers on the cancer journey.