Community interventions for survivors and their families: a literature synthesis

Advancements in technology and treatment have increased the survival rate for many cancers. Because many people in the United States who are living with cancer reside in communities, a need exists for community-based interventions for survivors and their families.

The goal of this article is to inform nurses and researchers about current evidence-based community intervention outcomes and make recommendations to support care of community survivors of cancer.

A literature search was conducted for community interventions with a survivor component. Fifteen articles were selected for analysis in two categories of community intervention research, women with breast cancer and people with all types of cancer.

The literature synthesis indicated that community-based interventions are beneficial to enhancing quality of life and decreasing symptoms in survivors. Exercise, support, and family-centered interventions for children and spouses demonstrated promising results. These findings have implications for nursing practice in communities, where oncology nurses and other professionals can begin concentrating intervention efforts. Additional studies are needed on high-quality, cost-effective, and collaborative community-based interventions for survivors of cancer, including underrepresented populations.