Abstract
BackgroundOn-line provision of information during the transition phase after treatment carries great promise in meeting shortcomings in post-treatment care for breast cancer survivors and their partners. The objectives of this study are to describe the development and process evaluation of a tailored informative website and to assess which characteristics of survivors and partners, participating in the feasibility study, are related to visiting the website.MethodsThe development process included quantitative and qualitative assessments of survivors’ and partners’ care needs and preferences. Participants’ use and evaluation of the website were explored by conducting baseline and post-measurements. During the intervening 10–12 weeks 57 survivors and 28 partners were granted access to the website.ResultsFifty-seven percent (n=21) of survivors who took part in the post-measurement indicated that they had visited the website. Compared to non-visitors (n=16), they were more likely to have a partner and a higher income, reported higher levels of self-esteem and had completed treatment for a longer period of time. Partners who consulted the on-line information (42%, n=8) were younger and reported lower levels of social support compared to partners who did not visit the website (n=11). Visitors generally evaluated the content and lay-out positively, yet some believed the information was incomplete and impersonal.ConclusionsThe website reached only about half of survivors and partners, yet was mostly well-received. Besides other ways of providing information and support, a website containing clear-cut and tailored information could be a useful tool in post-treatment care provision.
Highlights
On-line provision of information during the transition phase after treatment carries great promise in meeting shortcomings in post-treatment care for breast cancer survivors and their partners
As the support from hospital caregivers is largely lost after completion of breast cancer treatment [1], the re-entry phase might be a crucial moment for providing breast cancer survivors and partners with on-line information
The present study describes the development and the process evaluation of an informative website tailored to the care needs of breast cancer survivors and partners during the transition into survivorship
Summary
On-line provision of information during the transition phase after treatment carries great promise in meeting shortcomings in post-treatment care for breast cancer survivors and their partners. As most breast cancer patients/survivors and their partners have access to the Internet [8,9,10], on-line provision of psychosocial information and support shows great promise. Many cancer patients/survivors and their partners use the Internet to search for information and support at different stages of the illness [9,12,13]. As the support from hospital caregivers is largely lost after completion of breast cancer treatment [1], the re-entry phase might be a crucial moment for providing breast cancer survivors and partners with on-line information. Guiding survivors and partners towards reliable on-line information is of critical importance
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