Assessing preferences for receiving supportive care resources among patients seen at a Breast Care Center

Patients with breast cancer or at high risk for breast cancer have supportive care needs. Although cancer centers offer social, psychological, and other support to these patients, these services are not always utilized, and patients continue to report unmet supportive care needs. Reasons for non-utilization of these services have not been well documented. In this analysis, we examine patient reasons for service non-utilization and evaluate patients' interest in receiving information about and paying for other supportive care services.

Study participants were contacted by email 7-14 months following appointments at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Breast Care Center (BCC) and were invited to complete a 26-question survey about supportive care utilization at UCSF.

In total, 195 patients (45%) completed surveys. Of these, 68% had breast cancer. Among patients with breast cancer, fewer than half completed appointments with psychological services. Lack of self-perceived need was the primary reason patients did not pursue psychological services. Overall, 61% of participants were interested in learning more about psychological services, 27% in nutrition counseling, and 20% in exercise counseling. Participants were more interested in individual counseling than in group counseling but were less interested in paying for services.

Patients often feel that they do not need supportive services. Breast cancer patients are interested in learning more about psychological services, exercise counseling, and nutrition counseling. Although many cancer centers offer group coaching and counseling sessions on these topics, patients may be more willing to engage in individual counseling.