Survivorship issues following treatment completion—results from focus groups with Australian cancer survivors and health professionals

Abstract

These results provide a clear direction for the development of resources to support cancer survivors following treatment completion.

Survivors of breast cancer: patient perspectives on survivorship care planning

“…The patient view is critical when developing and implementing survivorship care models [11,12]. SCP are viewed positively by patients [10,[13][14][15], but some find the information provided in SCP to be too technical with inadequate information on side effects and self-care approaches [14,15]. Patients express satisfaction with the receipt of an SCP, but report that communication and information transfer is a major weakness and suggest that clear communication between health professionals would benefit the patient's health and well-being [16,17].…”

Development of cancer needs questionnaire for parents and carers of adolescents and young adults with cancer

“…3 Parents and carers' preferences for place of survey administration treatment centres and staff and being used to identify research and funding priorities. Follow-up appointments are known to be a stressful time for cancer survivors and their families [49]. Therefore, the preference for completing the survey at home may reflect that the participants feel anxious at the clinic.…”

Breast and Prostate Cancer Survivor Responses to Group Exercise and Supportive Group Psychotherapy

“…The SGP was delivered by two accredited counselors, once per week for 90 minutes. Each weekly session was based around 8 themes, which reflected the ongoing needs of cancer survivors (Jefford et al, 2008;Marlow, Cartmill, Cieplucha & Lowrie, 2003). The themes were: 1) exploring life stories, 2) implications of living with cancer, 3) coping with stress, 4) mindfulness and feeling anxious, 5) relationships and support, 6) self-identity, 7) hope, and 8) moving forward.…”