Postcancer treatment support programme: an evaluation

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Psychology
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Growing population of cancer survivors requires effective post-treatment support.
• Supportive interventions are crucial for managing survivorship challenges.
• The Maggie's 'Where Now?' programme offers post-cancer support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the 'Where Now?' programme on cancer survivors.
• To assess changes in healthy eating, quality of life, self-efficacy, and cancer worry.
• To identify behaviour change techniques used in the programme.

Main Methods:

• A pre-post study design was employed.
• 88 cancer survivors participated in the 7-week 'Where Now?' programme.
• Participants self-reported on diet, activity, quality of life, self-efficacy, and cancer worry before and after the programme.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in general self-efficacy (p=0.01) and physical activity self-efficacy (p<0.01).
• Quality of life (p<0.01) and cancer worry (p=0.04) also showed significant positive changes.
• No significant changes were found in healthy eating habits (p=0.23).

Conclusions:

• The 'Where Now?' programme positively impacts key psychological outcomes for individuals living beyond cancer.
• Techniques like instruction, problem-solving encouragement, and goal setting were prominent.
• The programme demonstrates effectiveness in supporting cancer survivors' psychological well-being.