A Digital Cancer Ecosystem to Deliver Health and Psychosocial Education as Preventive Intervention

Abstract

Health education and psychosocial interventions prevent emotional distress, and the latter has been shown to have an impact on survival. In turn, digital health education interventions may help promote equity by reaching a higher number of cancer patients, both because they avoid journeys to the hospital, by and having a better efficiency. A total of 234 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer in a comprehensive cancer center used the digital ecosystem ICOnnecta’t from March 2019 to March 2021. ICOnnecta’t consists of four care levels, provided to patients according to their level of distress. The second level of this intervention consists of an educational campus, which was analyzed to track users’ interests and their information-seeking behavior. Overall, 99 out of 234 women (42.3%) used the educational campus. There were no significant differences in sociodemographic and clinical variables between the campus users and non-users. Among users, the median number of resources utilized per user was four (interquartile range: 2–9). Emotional and medical resources were the contents most frequently viewed and the audiovisual format the most consulted (p < 0.01). Resources were used mainly within the first three months from enrolment. Users who were guided to visit the virtual campus were more active than spontaneous users. Offering an early holistic health educational platform inside a digital cancer ecosystem, with health professionals involved, can reach more patients, promoting equity in the access of cancer information and prevention, from the very beginning of the disease.

What works in peer support for breast cancer survivors: A qualitative systematic review and meta‐ethnography

“…Our review clearly demonstrates that patients have a desire not only to feel emotionally supported but also to feel comfortable enough navigating the cancer experience and receiving the information they need related to the illness. Literature describes that women with BC often have unmet information needs and experience difficulties when communicating with healthcare professionals (Collie et al, 2005; Parker et al, 2009) and that emotional aspects and more disease‐specific information are the most demanded (Benedict et al, 2022; Ciria‐Suarez et al, 2022; PDQ Supportive and Palliative Care Editorial Board, 2015). It seems that achieving the right balance between information and emotional support is a core challenge as, on the one hand, patients appear to appreciate relevant illness information, but on the other hand, there is a risk that too much information reduces emotional connection and can contribute to increasing fears in PS users' experience.…”

“…Qualitative research offers a solution to the gap in the literature on PS as it can further our understanding of the patient's experience of participating in PS. Specifically, meta‐ethnography, a well‐known method to synthesize qualitative research, is useful in the area of analyzing individuals' experiences (Adams et al, 2011; Atkins et al, 2008; Wanat et al, 2016), which can then be used to understand patient needs, as information and support are frequently sought by patients (Ciria‐Suarez et al, 2022; Medina et al, 2022). To the best of our knowledge, no previous meta‐ethnography has been conducted to explore the experience of PS in BC.…”