Building the case for expanded support services to young breast cancer survivors: An evaluation of a cooperative agreement.

Abstract

127 Background: To determine effective and appropriate communication interventions to address the psychosocial needs of young breast cancer survivors (YBCS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established a cooperative agreement with seven organizations offering tailored support and education services to YBCS. The process evaluation of this cooperative agreement aims to document program implementation and the extent to which the cooperative agreement relationship (funding, subject matter expert support, technical assistance, and training) facilitates organizations’ delivery of programs. An additional five organizations were studied for comparison to gain a broader perspective on programmatic offerings for YBCS across the United States. Methods: The evaluation utilizes a multiple case study design, entailing document review, site visits, program observation, and in-depth interviews with program staff to describe program implementation and perceptions related to program effectiveness. Thematic analysis is being utilized to analyze all qualitative data collected. Results: Organizations offer a range of services, including psychosocial support and education to YBCS, YBCS caregivers and health care providers. Services offered cover the cancer care continuum, ranging from the provision of community outreach and education via multiple platforms (e.g., partnership development, online resource compilations, social media) to structured support services offered (e.g., patient navigation, structured support plans, tailored support groups for survivors and caregivers) to relevant YBCS audiences. Specifically, grantee program staff members report that cooperative agreement funding helped to expand and strengthen organizations' YBCS-focused efforts; all organizations offer lessons learned for communication with YBCS. Conclusions: Findings from this evaluation demonstrate the utility of federal funds to help organizations augment existing or create new resources and services for YBCS. Further, findings from this evaluation support the use of tailored interventions as a promising strategy to improve YBCS communication and education efforts.